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Class. 
Book. 



WALTER R. STEINER 
COLLECTION 



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CANYON AND CRATER 



OR 



Scenes in California 



AND THE ^ 



Sd?f^ WICE ISLd^'DS. 



BY JOHN W. BOOKWALTER. 



Springfield, Ohio: 
republic printing compant, publishers. 

1874. 



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Entered According to Act of Congress in the year 1875, by 

JOHN W. BOOKWALTER, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Wasliington, D. C. 



TO 

MY BELOVED WIFE, 

WHO, WITH HEROIC COURAGE AND DEVOTION, ACCOMPANIED US IN 
OUR JOURNEY, SHARING BOTH ITS 

PLEASUKES AND PERILS, 

THIS VOLUME 

IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED 

BY THE 

AUTHOR. 



BEQUEST OF 

m^ WALTER H. STEIKER 

MN. 20, 1948 



PREFACE. 



The tour of which this volume is an imperfect record was 
originally undertaken with a view chiefly to the restoration of 
the author's health; and in that respect, if in no other, it 
proved a gratifying success. In no quarter of the globe can 
there be found a climate more friendly to the human constitu- 
tion than that of California and the Sandwich Islands. Of the 
two localities, the latter is entitled to the preference; and the 
only drawback upon its attractions is the long sea-voyage 
which the impatient traveler must endure before reaching the 
haven of his anticipations. 

Of the personnel of the party, it may at least be said Jhat 
whatever it lacked jn numbers wais fully made up in harmony 
and enthusiasm. The individuals composing it were Prof. H. 
R. Geiger of Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio, the wife of 
the writer, and the last-mentioned personage himself. And it 
is proper in this connection to state that Prof.Oeiger's compan- 
ionable qualities, and the zeal and fortitude with which he 
engaged in our many fatiguing excursions, contributed very 
largely to the enjoyment of the tour. 

The account of our journey comprised in the following chap- 
ters was not written with a view to publication in this manner; 
nor is this volume designed for general circulation, but rather 
as a means of preserving to the author and conveying to his 
friends in a durable form the recollections of a somewhat 



memorable experience. For the literary imperfections of the 
following pages it is scarcely necessary to apologize. They 
were written in fragmentary portions, and to a great extent in 
the haste and amid the inconveniences of land or ocean travel, 
without opportunity for correction or revision. The motive of 
their production, moreover, has not been that of an aspirant to 
the honors of authorship, but a desire on the part of the writer 
to revive in some degree, in their subsequent perusal, the im- 
pressions made upon his fellow-travelers and himself by scenes 
of beauty and sublimity which an abler pen than his could but 
faintly describe. 

JOHN W. BOOKWALTER. 
Springfield, Ohio, 1874. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAP. PAGE. 

I. Across the Plains and Over the Mountains 9 

II. The Humboldt Valley and the Sierras 24 

III. San Francisco 36 

IV. The Foot Hills of the Sierras , 45 

V. The Calaveras and Mariposa Groves .52 

VI. En Route for the Valley 72 

VII. In the Valley 95 

VIII. From San Francisco to Honolulu 10« 

IX. The Topography of the Pacific 121 

X. The Islands and their Inhabitants '.... 14;i 

XI. Honolulu and its Knvirons 1,57 

XII. A Trip to Maui 189 

XIII. The Crater of Haleakala 215 

XIV. Hiloand its Vicinity 228 

XV. A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea 240 

XVI. The Eruptions of Mauna Loa 272 

XVII. The Origin of Volcanic Heat 299 

XVIII. Trip to the Crater of Mokuaweoweo 817 

XIX. Mud-Flow in Kau 832 

XX. Homeward Bound 851 

Pronunciation of Hawaiian Terms 371 

ILLUSTEATI0N8. 

1. Sunseton the Platte Valley 11 

2. Salt Lake City and Wahsatch Mountains 17 

8. The Mormon Tabernacle, Salt Lake City 21 

4. Blue Canyou 25 

5. The Railway at Cape Horn 29 

G. Hydraulic Method of Mining ."K 

7. The Sentinels •. 53 

8. Big Trees of Calaveras 57 

9. Dancing Party on Stump of Mammoth Tree 01 

10. The Fallen Monarch (i5 

11. Descent into the Valley 09 

12. Indian Trail up the Mountain 73 

13. Geueial View of the Yosemite Valley 77 

14. El Capitan 81 

15. Bridal Veil Fall 85 



VIII. 

PAGE. 

16. Nevada Fall 89 

17. Yosemite Fall 93 

18. The Professor's First "Specimen" Ill 

19. "Now You See It, and Now You Don't" 115 

20. Map of the Sandwich Islands 123 

21. Bottom of the Pacific 127 

22. " " " " 131 

23. Section of Sandwich Islands 135 

24. View of Honolulu 156 

25. Street Scene in Honolulu 159 

26. Giant or Pulu Fern 166 

27. The Taro Plant 169 

28. Beating Poi 174 

29. Eating Poi 177 

30. View of Waikiki and Diamond Point 181 

31. Surf-Bathing 18.5 

32. Our Traveling Companions 190 

as. That Schooner 192 

34. Native Grass Hut 198 

35. Scene on the Shore at Maui 206 

36. View of Haleakala 214 

37. Crater of Haleakala 218 

38. Map of the Crater of Haleakala 222 

39. View Across the Clouds 226 

40. Forest Scene near Hilo 233 

41. General View of Kilauea 243 

42. Map of Kilauea 247 

43. Sectional View of Kilauea 251 

44. Crossing a Lava Field 255 

45. Halemaumau, or Burning Lake 262 

46. Map of Eruptions of Mauna Loa 279 

47. Conduit from Mokuaweoweo to Kilauea 291 

48. Crater of Mokuaweoweo*. 322 

49. Survey of Mokuaweoweo 326 

50. Mud-Flow in Kau 335 

51. Sectional View of Mud-Flow 342 

52. A Sulphur Bath 356 



CANYON AND CRATER, 

OR 

Scenes in California 

AND THE 

Sandwich Islands. 

CHAPTER I. 
AcKOSS THE Plains and Over the Mountains. 

"The Great West'/'' How few there are who 
really know the true significance of this oft-re- 
peated phrase. Whatever may be its significance, 
I am sure it but feebly conveys an idea of the truly 
wonderful character of the yet undeveloped coun- 
try that lies west of the Missouri River. It is here 
we find the developments of nature on its grandest 
and most imposing scale ; and the uniformly vast 
proportions of all its operations constitute the 
distinctive feature of this country. It will of 
course be impossible for me to even glance at all 
the numberless objects of wonder abounding in 
this region, and I will therefore confine myself to 



10 Acrofis the Plains 

a brief notice of the more marked features of 
interest, qualified by what I may deem of value as 
well. As that part of our national domain lying 
east of the Missouri is no longer a new country, I 
select as a proper point of departure the western 
bank of that great river. 

On taking the cars of the Union Pacific Railroad 
at Omaha, the country, for the space of a few 
miles, bears a very close resemblance to that of 
Iowa — beautifully undulating and covered with 
abundant verdure. But a complete change is 
suddenly wrought in the aspect of the country as 
the train abruptly plunges into the great valley 
of the Platte. So swift, indeed, is the transition, 
so great are the beauties that spread before the 
eye in all directions, that the change seems' the 
work of enchantment. Ohio -has its valleys of 
Scioto, of Miami and others not less cherished — 
Indiana its valley of the Wabash — but what are 
they in extent and fertility to the grieat Platte 
valley ? By a valley, in Ohio or Indiana, is meant 
a tract of land extending in a broken line con- 
tiguous to the river, and of very limited width. 
The term, to those who have never seen the great 
valleys of Nebraska, would seem not inaptly 
applied; but they are mere bottoms, strictly 



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And Over the Mountains. 13 

speaking, and not valleys in the sense in which 
one is accustomed to view them in this country. 
Think of a valley extending for three hundred 
miles in an unbroken, uniform, level tract, and 
of an average width of nearly thirty miles ; and 
some idea may be formed of the extent of this 
most wonderful valley that the sun shines upon. 
Wonderful as it would be by reason of its 
unusual area, it becomes a yet greater marvel 
when we reflect that it is of the highest grade of 
fertility. 

Throughout its whole extent there is scarcely 
any waste land ; and the entire tract exceeds, in 
point of fertility, anything I have seen in other 
sections of the country. It is peculiarly adapted 
to withstand the droughts which are so far the 
only drawbacks to Nebraska. There seems to 
underlie throughout the whole valley a sub-stratum 
of sand and gravel of great depth. Upon this is 
superimposed a deep, rich alluvial soil varying in 
depth from two to six feet. The soil is adapted to 
the production of almost all kinds of grain, as I 
had occasion to notice ; corn, particularly, grows 
with singular luxuriance. The lands in this valley 
are as yet comparatively unoccupied, but are 
being rapidly settled up. It is a fine subject for 



14^ Across the Plains 

contemplation, as to what will be the future of 
this splendid valley — itself capable of supporting 
almost the entire population of the United States. 

The Union Pacific Railroad has been much 
talked of, and many conflicting reports have been 
current as to the manner of its construction. 
Being desirous to ascertain as nearly as possible 
its real condition, I have from time to time made 
observations touching this point. The road-bed 
throughout its whole extent is most admirable, 
the soil being of such a nature as to admit of a 
very firm foundation ; and I must say that I have 
never traveled upon any road so free from dust. 
The track for the first hundred or perhaps two 
hundred miles is laid of iron, the rails seeming to 
be of insufficient weight; and being without the 
fish-bar joint, they have become much worn and 
laminated, rendering the road quite rough. With 
this exception, I found rails of a weight and laid 
in a manner fully equal to any road in the East. 
The cars are principally of the Pullman pattern, 
and of course commodious, convenient and pleas- 
ant. Altogether there are few roads in the coun- 
try more pleasant to travel upon than the Union 
Pacific Railroad. 

After leaving the Platte valley, you bid adieu 



And Over the Mountains. 15 

to all attractive country, and enter upon the 
confines of a region whose sterility and barren- 
ness is only heightened by contrast with the 
wonderful richness of the valley just passed 
through. By an easy, uniform grade through a 
distance of several hundred miles, the summit of 
the Rocky Mountain range is reached. By much 
the same grade, the descent of the western slope 
is made. One cannot fail to notice a marked 
diflference in the geologic character of the Rocky 
Mountain range, compared with the Appalachian. 
Nowhere in the former are presented the rugged 
defiles and abrupt elevations, found in the latter. 
From this cause, the scenery of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, as seen from the cars, is much inferior to 
that of the Alleghanies. Much as has been said 
of the grand and imposing scenery immediately 
along the line of the Union Pacific road, I must 
confess I could not see it. The Weber and Echo 
canyons comprise, joar excellaice^the choice scenery 
on this road; yet to my mode of viewing, they 
cannot compare with the scenery where several 
railways cross the Alleghanies. There are indeed 
many distant views of mountain ranges that are 
really beautiful, particularly wheie they reveal 
the snow-capped peaks. 



16 Across the Plains 



After a journey of fifty-four hours, we reach 
Salt Lake City— a city perhaps more talked of 
and written about than any other in the United 
States. It lies near the eastern edge of a valley 
which is almost completely encircled by a bold 
range of mountains, Great Salt Lake being twenty 
miles to the west of the city. Though made to 
literally blossom as the rose. Salt Lake valley 
bears traces of its once sterile character. In view- 
ing the great improvements and changes wrought 
in this country, one is bound to accord the highest 
respect to the wonderful people by whose magic 
louch the primitive desert was transformed into 
blooming gardens and fertile fields. On all hands 
you will see orchards teeming with their luscious 
fruits, and broad farms covered with the products 
of the toil of these patient and skillful husband- 
men. 

Salt Lake City is regularly laid out, with streets 
of great width, along which trees are planted, 
forming beautiful avenues throughout the whole 
city. There are many really fine public buildings, 
and the Temple, now in process of erection, is 
designed to be one of the grandest church edifices 
in the country. One of the most striking features 
of Mormon society is the wonderful variety of 



And Over the Mountains. 19 

character. Among this people are to be found 
men of all professions and crafts — artisans in 
every branch of industry, and of singular excel- 
lence. One is compelled to admire the skill 
which, without resources other than those de- 
veloped within themselves, has erected buildings 
and produced works of art that will compare not 
unfavorably with those of an older and more 
favored community. In the Tabernacle, a large 
building devoted to Mormon worship, I found an 
organ which is said to be the second in size in the 
United States, of excellent construction and finish. 
Imagine my surprise when I was informed that it 
was entirely the work of these people — all the 
material entering into it being made, and the 
whole wrought together, by their own hands. 

Just now the absorbing topic here is the silver 
mines which have so suddenly developed in this 
territory. On the cars, at the hotels and else- 
where, nothing is talked of but traces, leads, feet 
and other mining technicalities, to the unitiated 
a confounding jumble. Only eighteen months 
since the silver mines of Utah were almost un- 
known. To-day they take rank with the most 
productive ever yet discovered. While under the 
present excitement many wild rumors and extrav- 



20 Across the Plains 

agant reports will of course be circulated con- 
cerning the new found treasures of Utah, yet 
when these are divested of all exaggeration we 
may safely say that so far as developed the Utah 
mines are far superior in point of richness and 
abundance of ore to any yet discovered in this 
country. While there are hundreds of mines 
whose existence is attested only by the mining 
records of the territory, and others daily being 
discovered, there are quite a number in actual 
operation, yielding most handsome returns. The 
most celebrated mine yet worked is the Emma, in 
what is called the Cottonwood district. The pro- 
ducts of these mines are of a kind called the 
smelting ore. It is all shipped at present to Swan- 
sea, Wales, where it is worked up — a fact showing 
how exceedingly crude and imperfect are our 
facilities for the working of ore. The Emma Min- 
ing Co. are shipping to the above-named point 
about one hundred tons of ore per day. 

The Eureka Mining Company of Utah have 
perhaps the most valuable and extensive 
claims in the territory, and are making rapid 
preparations to work up their ore. They . have 
now on hand, ready for the mills, over five thou- 



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And Over the MoUfTitains. 23 

sand tons of ore, which will yield an average of 
over $100 per ton. 

Rich and extensive as are the silver mines of 
Utah, they will perhaps aiford in the future but a 
repetition of mining experiences in other districts. 
A few will make immense fortunes and many will 
be disappointed. Yet, judging from the richness 
of the ore and its accessibility as compared with 
other mining districts of the West, the future of 
mining in Utah must certainly be much more 
promising than any hitherto opened by similar 
discoveries. 

While in the city I enjoyed a very pleasant 
interview with G. W. Cannon, editor of the 
Deseret News, the official organ of the Mormon 
Church. I found him a genial, pleasant gentle- 
man, and learned of him many facts relating to 
the history of the country. The Deseret News is 
an enterprising, ably edited paper of large circu- 
lation, and celebrated as being the oldest paper 
west of the Missouri river. 



24 The Humholdt Valley 



CHAPTER II. 

The Humboldt Valley and the Sierras. 

Taking the cars of the Utah Central Kailroad, we 
make immediate connection with the Central Pa- 
cific Railroad for the West at Ogden, which is 
temporarily the compromise junction of these two 
routes ; and here, strange to say, an entire change, 
bag and baggage, has to be made by the worn and 
weary traveler who for the past three days has 
sweltered in the dust of Illinois and Iowa, the 
sands of Nebraska and the alkali of Wyoming. 
Whatever justification there may be, if indeed 
there can be any, for this singular want of co-op- 
eration between these two great companies, it is 
to be hoped, for the comfort of through passengers, 
that the day is not far distant when the difiiculties 
existing may be so far adjusted as to permit at 
least a through car to make the entire trip from 
Omaha to San Francisco. But the ways of railroad 
corporations are peculiar, and beyond the ken of 




BLUE CANYON. 



And the Sierras. 27 

ordinary mortals ; and whatever may be the con- 
siderations determining their action, it can hardly 
be said that the comfort of the traveling public 
enters into or modifies it. 

Geographically speaking, the Central Pacific 
Railroad may be said to comprise three great di- 
visions — that bisecting the great interior basin 
lying between the Rocky and Sierra Nevada 
mountains ; the mountain pass of the Sierras ; and 
the valleys of California — each division being pe- 
culiar and distinct in its geologic conformations, 
and every characteristic of surface and productions. 

Through the eastern part of the interior basin, 
or what may be called the first division, there is 
nothing worthy of note to be seen, save occasional 
distant mountain views which are really fine, after 
which stretches on either hand a desert presenting 
to the view only desolation vast and illimitable — 
nothing but a dreary waste, unrelieved by anything 
that would gladden the eye or cheer the heart of 
the traveler, who each succeeding hour grows 
more weary of the dreadful monotony. To one 
accustomed to dense forests and prolific vegeta- 
tion, these nude and desolate plains ofi"er a most 
uninviting prospect. For several hundred miles 
the road follows, as to its general direction, the 



^2S The HuTTbholdt Valley 



valley of the Humboldt river — a stream hardly- 
worthy the name of river. It is possessed of no 
interest except as affording an exception to the or- 
dinary rule governing the growth of a river, which 
is, to increase in size as it increases in length. The 
contrary is the case with this strange river, which 
steadily decreases in size as it approaches its 
mouth ; so that it not unfre([uently entirely dries 
up long before it reaches its final destination in the 
Humboldt Lake — a body of water like the Great 
Salt Lake, apparently without an outlet. Such are 
some of the strange vagaries manifest in the works 
of nature in this marvellous region. 

The pass of the railroad through the Sierra Ne- 
vadas is certainly a most wonderful achievement 
of modern engineering, and I believe not equaled 
in this country, if in any other. Whatever may be 
said of the tameness of the mountain scenery 
along the Union Pacific R. R., it most assuredly 
does not apply to that along the Central Pacific R. 
R. Throughout almost the whole descent of the 
western slope of the Sierras, the sublimity of the 
scenery is beyond description, and the most im- 
posing views along the lines of eastern railroads 
shrink into comparative insignificance before the 
vast and terrific grandeur of this mountain range. 




THE RAILWAY AT CAPE HORN. 



And the Sierras. SI 

Among the choice scenes in this region we may 
mention those of the Blue Canyon and Cape Horn, 
where the road winds along the towering hights of 
some of the loftiest peaks of this range. The awful 
spectacle of a railway threading its narrow path 
with scanty space around the tortuous curves of 
the summits of the Sierras, over 2,000 feet above 
their base, must be seen to realize its immensity. 
Language but feebly conveys an impression of it. 
1 was at first somewhat surprised that no adequate 
description of this fine scenery has been widely 
spread ; but I can well see that its overpowering 
grandeur must render mute the most fertile of 
speech and imagination. For the tourist and 
pleasure-seeker no finer trip can be found, and 
judging from the rapidly increasing travel over the 
road the fact is not only recognized but appreci- 
ated. There is much talk just now of an engineer- 
ing enterprise which if consummated must rank as 
a peer of the Mont Cenis tunnel. Near the summit 
of the Sierras, and about 200 miles distant from 
San Francisco is the beautiful lake of Tahoe, cele- 
brated as much for its purity of water as for the 
beauty of the surrounding scenery. The bold en- 
gineering feat of bringing the waters of this lake 
into the city has not only been conceived, but has 



32 The Humboldt Valley 

taken something of a tangible, practical form. In 
order to accomplish this, it will be necessary to 
tunnel the Sierras for a distance of nearly six miles 
— a work the magnitude of which can only be un- 
derstood when the proposed route is examined. 
The enterprise was originally projected only for 
the purpose of supplying the city with pure water ; 
but recently, 1 learn, the Union Pacific R. R. Co. 
have offered to contribute $1,000,000 towards the 
expense of excavating the tunnel so as to be of 
sufficient size to permit the passage of their trains 
through it. This arrangement would be of im- 
mense value to the road as a means of greatly 
shortening the distance and ridding it of the heavy 
expense of maintaining the miles of snow sheds 
which now encase the road from the summit to 
about half way down. 

After leaving Colfax, the descent is through an 
easy grade, and the only objects of interest are the 
constantly succeeding mines, which are in this re- 
gion carried on by the hydraulic method. This 
consists in bringing — sometimes from great dis- 
tances — the waters of some mountain stream, to 
near the point where it is to be used, and convey- 
ing it in pipes similar to the hose employed by fire 
engines. As the head acquired is sometimes from 




HYDRAULIC METHOD OF MINING. 



And the Sierras. 35 



400 to 600 feet, the water is discharged with tre- 
mendous force against the sides of the hills which 
contain the hidden treasure, and the denudation 
which follows is something surprising. Whole 
hills and mountains are made to literally melt 
away under the immense power of this eroding 
element, and the country for miles around shows 
traces of its effects, a perfect transformation of the 
whole face of the region being the result. By this 
method, claims that would yield but a beggarly 
reward to the toils of the miner by the ordinary 
process of working are made to return handsomely 
for the investment in ditches, sluices, pipes, &c., 
necessary to this method. 

Many mines are now deserted, and show only 
the traces of their former busy occupancy by the 
miners, who have long since decamped for other 
and more profitable regions. As an illustration of the 
extreme frugality of the Chinese — who form a very 
large element of the population here — I am told 
that they frequently rework a deserted mine from 
which it was supposed that the Anglo-Saxon had 
extracted all its wealth, and by their patient per- 
sistence find among the well-worked debris suffi- 
cient of the precious metal to pay them for the 
toil bestowed. 



36 San Francisco. 



CHAPTER III. 

San Francisco. 

With many an occasional flitting glimpse of the 
rich valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin 
far in the distance, we finally reach the foot of the 
Sierra Nevada range, and emerge into the rich val- 
leys of California, the golden wealth of whose 
fruits and grains far exceeds that of its mountain 
regions. While passing through the great Sacra- 
mento valley, I beheld for the first time that cele- 
brated optical phenomenon, the mirage; and a 
most wonderful sight it was. At the distance, 
as it appeared, of a mile, could be seen a 
lake, which seemed several miles across. The sur- 
face glistened with the rays of the sun, and was 
occasionally broken by the gentle ripple of appar- 
ent waves, with all the reality of a liquid lake. 
The reflection of objects that seemed to line its 
shores was lifelike, presenting the same inverted 



San Francisco. 37 



appearance as seen on an actual lake, this reflec- 
tion extending even to objects of small size. So 
perfect was the resemblance in all respects that I 
found it difficult to persuade myself that it was all 
an illusion. Yet there was no water within many- 
miles of where the spectre was seen — nothing, in 
fact, but a level, dry, parched plain. The origin of 
the phenomenon is well known, and is possible 
only in an atmosphere of great purity and trans- 
parency, such as is found in this country. Nor is 
this the only proof of its purity, as its sanitary ef- 
fect upon any one who has been long in this region 
will attest ; the air having a rare buoyancy and 
vivifying power delightful to those accustomed to 
a murky atmosphere, and constituting one of the 
admirable characteristics of this region. One of 
the marked peculiarities of California that sensi- 
bly attract the attention of the traveler is its great 
diversity of climate, which ranges from the tropi- 
cal to the frigid, and often in sections but a few 
miles apart. This is the result of the peculiar geo- 
graphical constitution of the valleys, plains and 
mountain ranges, together with the powerful modi- 
fying influences of the oceanic and atmospheric 
currents which prevail on the coast. There being 
some thirty difl"erent valleys running parallel to- 



38 San Francisco. 



wards the coast, each one of which has a climate 
peculiar to itself, the traveler is often astonished 
by the very sudden transitions of this nature 
which he experiences during even a single day's 
travel. The result of so great a variety of atmos- 
pheric conditions, together with almost an equal 
diversity of soil, is to give to California a variety 
of vegetable productions scarcely equaled by any 
country on the globe, 

San Francisco, the great mart of the west, seems 
to be a natural outgrowth of these involved physi- 
cal influences, and presents, as one might expect, 
the most multiform character. In fact, the city is 
a world of itself, and can never cease to be a 
source of astonishment to the traveler. Within its 
bounds you can find representatives of almost all 
nations, not as a loose floating element, but inte- 
grated into one common mass, forming as a whole 
the most heterogeneous combination ever em- 
bodied in a single community. English, Chinese, 
Spanish, French, and many other equally distinct 
nationalities are here jumbled together, each in 
the main preserving its peculiar customs and hab- 
its, but yielding so far to one common mode as to 
cement them into a social composite that is the de- 
light of the ethnologist. Of the foreign element 



San Francisco. 39 



the Chinese is by far the most numerous, and oc- 
cupies in a central part of the city about twenty 
blocks, all in one body. A ramble among them 
constitutes one of the greatest novelties an 
American can enjoy. In company with a friend I 
visited, during the late hours of the night, the 
haunts of these busy little Orientals, and while I 
met with much to shock one's sensibilities, yet 
upon the whole the impression derived from a 
close observation of them was favorable. So well 
defined and marked are the limits of their occupa- 
tion of the city, and so abruptly does one enter 
their quarters that if one were suddenly dropped 
into'the heart of Hong Kong, the change could not 
be more startling. For long distances you can see 
nothing but a busy crowd of these people intently 
engaged in their various avocations or pastimes. 
Every little alley is utilized by them for shops or 
residences, and it is astonishing to see within what 
limited quarters they can not only live but make 
themselves even comfortable. There seems to be 
no branch of trade or of the arts to which these 
skillful people do not readily adapt themselves ; 
and their industry is simply indefatigable. Their 
labors do ^not, as with the civilized Saxon, end 
with the day,lbut even at the hour of midnight the 



JfO San Francisco. 



streets and shops present the same busy, lively 
scene, as during the day. They have among other 
places of amusement a commodious theatre* 
wherein are represented what I suppose to be the 
choicest selections of the Chinese drama — to any 
but themselves the most complete bedlam. Noth- 
ing can exceed the weird scenes presented by the 
interior of a Chinese theatre. The unearthly 
sounds of the orchestra — which perhaps to the ac- 
customed ear of the Chinaman is melody itself — 
the quaint dress and gestures of the players, and 
unique trappings of the stage, all combine to make 
up a scene that transcends the most startling ef- 
fects of the Black Crook. To me it seemed that 
the whole merit of the play depended upon how 
complete a discord the orchestra could produce, 
and the degree of absurdity attained in the gyra- 
tions of the actors. To accomplish the former, the 
orchestra, with tom-toms, cymbals, and other 
squeaking and rattling instruments, made certain- 
ly a most vigorous and 1 may say successful ef- 
fort. 

Whatever of vice is contained in the Chinese 
character, lawlessness and disorder cannot be 
charged to them. "Oh," say their enemies, "they 
are heathen and brutal — low, sensual and animal." 



San Francisco. ^l 



But I must say that to see so many of these peo- 
ple compressed into small, narrow, dark alleys, 
and minutely subdivided rooms, as thick as the 
leaves of the trees, yet preserving the most per- 
fect quiet and order, was to me indeed a wonder. 
Yet into the most secluded recesses of the gloom- 
iest alley, surrounded on all hands by these peo- 
ple, I am told that one runs not the slightest per- 
sonal risk, as assaults from them are unknown. 
Said the guide who accompanied me : " While you 
are perfectly safe among them, I am sorry to say 
that only two streets from here, among the haunts 
of civilized men, you are not safe, and would at 
the risk of your life make the same tour you have 
made among these heathen." So much for the 
degradation of the Chinese, and the perfect order 
of our boasted civilization. I am satisfied that no 
other race could be so crowded, within such nar- 
row limits, and yet be guilty of so few infractions 
of the law as are these simple, mild and inoffen- 
sive people — certainly not the noble Celt or An- 
glo-Saxon. 

Among the chief attractions here at present is 
the Mechanics' Fair now in progress, to which I 
paid a hasty, desultory visit. The Fair does great 
credit to the people of this State, and evinces an 



Jf2 San Francisco. 



enterprise scarcely inferior to that of their Eastern 
brethren. The building in which the fair is held 
is a large square edifice, centrally located, cover- 
ing an entire block, convenient and commodious. 
The department of machinery was well represent- 
ed, especially with native productions; but among 
the multitude on exhibition I found those familiar 
as of Eastern manufacture. Chief in this list was 
the celebrated Champion Reaper and Mower made 
in our city, which seems determined to conquer in 
this country as it has in the East. 

There was an unusually large collection of 
paintings of rare excellence, evincing a taste for 
the artistic of the highest kind. In one end of the 
building was the largest and most beautiful col- 
lection of photographs I ever saw — and I doubt 
whether they have ever been equaled in this 
country, either for size or perfect accuracy of de- 
tail and finish. With full recognition of the skill 
of the artists who produced them, I must express 
my belief that their excellence depends much 
upon the peculiar clearness of the atmosphere of 
this country, which enables the much needed 
light to be obtained. 

As might be expected, the horticultural depart- 
ment was of the most attractive and profuse na- 



San Francisco. Jf.S 

ture, affording such a display of fruits, vegetables 
and botanic productions as no other country can 
present. I have attended many of the finest ex- 
positions of the East, yet must confess for variety 
of display, convenience of arrangement, and as a 
whole, I have never seen so great a success as this. 
It is a subject of just pride to the citizens. 

Business is now and has been for some time 
quite dull, a fact which the citizens are of course 
anxious to attribute to some temporary cause of 
derangement, but which it seems to me results 
from a serious, deep-seated and vital cause. In 
determining the probabilities of the future of any 
city, the real causes that develop its growth are 
the only sure and certain basis from which any 
prediction can be made. It must be evident that 
the past growth of San Francisco was wholly ow- 
ing to the fact that it was a general distributing 
point for all kinds of supplies and equipments for 
the interior towns of the western territories and 
the entire coast, it being the only point from 
which such supplies could be obtained. Since the 
completion of the Pacific Railroad, a new inlet has 
been opened for trade with the interior towns, the 
result of which has been to bring other cities into 
competition with San Francisco in supplying those 



44 'S'a-w Francisco. 



sections, whose trade formerly belonged exclusive- 
ly to this city. That the effect upon San Francisco 
of the building of the Pacific Railroad must be a 
detrimental one, a little observation will prove. 
At almost every town from San Francisco to Salt 
Lake, the observant traveler will see representa- 
tives from New York, Chicago and St. Louis firms 
drumming up a trade in those sections, all of 
which was formerly sent by them to San Francisco 
and there re distributed by its citizens to the very 
same firms who now purchase direct from the 
dealer in the East. The effect of this diversion of 
trade cannot fail to be a serious one; and San 
Francisco will ere long perceive that her noble 
and cherished enterprise, while favorable to the 
growth of the State, was in a measure fatal to her 
own personal interests ; and that after all the real 
gainer by this enterprise, as indeed by a majority 
of similar enterprises, is that great and grasping 
metropolis, the city of New York. 



The Foot Hills of the Sierras. 4^ 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE MAMMOTH TREES AND THE YOSEMITE. 
The Foot-Hills of the Sierras. 

After seeing the various objects of material in- 
terest in and about San Francisco, we bethought 
ourselves that the crowning glory of Oalifornian 
natural scenery yet remained to be seen. So we 
resolved to brave the inevitable hardships inter- 
vening, especially as going home without visiting 
the Big Trees and the wonderful Yosemite would, 
by implication, confess our trip to have been made 
in vain. 

Having beheld with our own eyes the surpass- 
ing beauties and grandeur of that enchanting val- 
ley, we of course must do as every one else has 
done who has been similarly blessed — commit our 
observations and experience to writing, regardless 
of the fact that it has been done hundreds of times 
before, and that the whole subject, at the hands of 
the litterateur and artist, has become trite and 



4^ The Foot Hills 



threadbare, and every object of novelty and beau- 
ty as carefully extracted as the precious metal 
from some super-worked placer. But how to reach 
the valley with the smallest amount of fatigue is 
really an important problem, and as difficult for 
the stranger to solve as it is important. 

Preparatory to a trip fraught with such varied 
experiences of pleasure and pain, we consulted 
every available map of California, talked big tree 
and Yosemite to any one who would patiently suf- 
fer the infliction, badgered the returned tourist, 
and listened, at first with beaming delight, to a 
host of solicitors for various competing routes, 
as each recited the superior attractions and advan- 
tages secured by Ms particular route, until, for 
sheer relief from the intricate confusion into which 
our investigations served only to plunge us, we 
frantically chose a route at last, caring but little 
where, save that it led towards the valley and 
from our besiegers. The route we selected is that 
known as the Hutchings route, so named, I sup- 
posed, out of deference to the estimable gentle- 
man whose name stands so intimately connected 
with the history of the Yosemite. The route is via 
railroad from San Francisco to Stockton and Mil- 
ton, a distance of about 100 miles ; thence by stage 



Of the Sierras, 47 

to the Calaveras grove of big trees, and hence by 
the Coulterville trail into the valley. We had not 
been many hours on the road before we came to 
the conclusion, in common, doubtless, with all 
tourists, that we unluckily had selected a route 
embracing the rockiest roads, the deepest and 
vilest dust, the steepest grades, and the most reck- 
less, unmerciful Jehu on the whole coast as our 
driver. But learning shortly that these were but 
the necessary evils common to California staging, 
in whatever locality, we modified our views, and 
now believe that this route, though blindly chosen, 
is the most desirable one into the valley, inasmuch 
as by it the equipments are fully equal to any 
other, and it possesses the advantage of passing 
through, or rather over, several mountain ranges 
the beauty of whose scenery alone is well worth 
the fatigues of the trip. The familiar " all aboard !" 
at the Central Pacific Depot was to us an equiva- 
lent for the whole phrase " To the big trees and 
Yosemite." In a few hours we find ourselves at 
Stockton, where we change for the cars of the 
Stockton and Copperopolis Railroad, a new road 
at present completed only as far as Milton, but 
designed to penetrate further eastward into the 
foot hills of the Sierras, which for the tourist will 



48 The Foot Hills 



be eminently desirable, as it will lessen by over 
100 miles the staging now necessary to reach the 
valley, which is by far the most trying experience 
of the traveler to that region. The course of the 
road from Stockton is across the rich level valley 
of San Joaquin, which for the distance of twenty 
miles presents one unvarying scene of richest pro- 
ductiveness and fertility ; after which by insensi- 
ble degrees it becomes more rolling and broken, 
until it at last merges into and forms what are 
called the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada moun- 
tains, strictly the transitional link between the 
mountain elevations above and bordering valleys 
below. When about two-thirds of the distance 
from Stockton to Milton, I first beheld, projected 
against the blue sky far in the distance, the faint 
profile of the Sierras, that wondrous range in whose 
hidden recesses are contained so many objects of 
grandeur and sublimity, the works of Nature in 
long past and unrecorded ages. 

On arriving at Milton our baggage and other ac- 
coutrements were speedily transferred to the pon- 
derous Concord coach, which is ever in readiness 
at the station for its victims. On presenting our 
credentials we were at once assigned the choicest 
seat by the busy and accommodating manager of 



Of the Sierras. 49 



the line. Now it must be borne in mind that while 
the adjective " choice" applies rather ludicrously 
to anything pertaining to a western stage, yet there 
are a few seats that possess a preference over oth- 
ers ; not, however, for the comfort they yield that 
the others do not, but the tortures inflicted are 
milder in degree, and more within the bounds of 
human endurance — a merit rather of a negative 
than a positive nature. This seat is on the top of 
the stage and adjoining the driver, who, as a gen- 
eral thing, is of a jovial nature, with a vast fund of 
anecdote and humor, which serve much to enliven 
what otherwise would soon become a tedious, mo- 
notonous journey. Having thus satisfactorily em- 
barked, we soon were on our way over dusty 
plains, through rocky gulches and ravines, and 
Milton, with its scattering houses and dismal, dusty 
streets, was soon hidden from view. 

On our slow, toilsome way up the ever increasing 
rugged mountain slope, we found abundant lei- 
sure to indulge in dreamy speculations as to the 
far-oflf geologic history of this land. The whole 
face of the country bears a written record of the 
great changes wrought by the mighty elements in 
primeval ages, and we can trace with ease the last 
finishing touches of the final subsidence of oceanic 



50 The Foot Hills 



waters, which moulded and carved this vast extent 
of surface into a thousand varied forms and shapes 
of beauty, grandeur and sublimity. High up to- 
ward the summit can be seen the denuded peaks 
of primitive rocks, still the same as when ceased 
the strife of the battling elements, plainly bearing 
the marks of the fiercely lashing waves ; and as we 
descend we find rows and piles of broken granite, 
ground and worn by the action of the water, de- 
creasing in size and number, here and there an 
ever increasing quantity of finely comminuted 
rock, mixed with a growing proportion of argilla- 
ceous matter, cementing into hillocks and ridges 
until, reaching the valleys below, the subsiding 
waters at last deposit there the rich alluvium gath- 
ered from the inhospitable regions above, as if by 
a provident economy, for the future use of man, 
ere they take their final departure through the 
Golden Gate, to find their last resting-place in the 
broad bosom of the placid Pacific. 

Before reaching the foot hills proper, the whole 
country becomes one succession of verdureless, 
gravelly knolls of varying sizes, which, while be- 
ing too poor to give life and growth upon their sur- 
face, yet prove that nothing is created in vain by 
aflfording beneath their surface homes for multi- 



Of the Sierras. 51 



tudes of burrowing squirrels much resembling the 
grey squirrel of the east both in color, size and 
general appearance. Almost every hillside is lit- 
erally honeycombed by the burrows of this active 
little rodent. 

They are by no means alone in their habitations. 
They seem to have that same communal instinct 
which in Nebraska and other eastern sections 
guides them to form a social compact, a kind of 
co-operative society, on the very human basis of 
mutual protection. Here in California can be 
found that strange triple combination of bird, rep- 
tile and quadruped, except that the squirrel has 
here been substituted for the prairie dog of the 
eastern plain. It is a curious spectacle which is 
thus presented, of creatures so different in their 
habits and natures as owls, squirrels and snakes 
associating so peaceably together; but I suppose 
each finds in the other some compensating quality 
which contributes to the welfare and safety of all 
collectively, and judging from the perfect quiet 
of their homes, they form after all, perhaps, a very 
happy family. 



52 The Calaveras 



CHAPTER V. 
The Calaveras and Mariposa Groves. 

From Milton to the Calaveras grove it is one 
continual ascent (since the grove is at an altitude 
of some 4,300 feet above the sea) varied with oc- 
casional descents of sometimes considerable dis- 
tance, which are the abhorrence of the traveler, 
for well he knows that every foot he descends must 
sooner or later, by slow, toilsome steps, be re- 
mounted. The route for the first forty miles is of 
the most sterile character one can conceive ; no 
growth of vegetation except occasional clumps of 
Manzaneta and scattering clusters of sage brush, 
to which the dry, barren soil yields an uncertain 
support, and which are found sustaining a feeble 
existence only in the more favored spots. So com- 
plete and universal is the paucity of moisture and 
verdure that one would naturally conclude that 
nature had defrauded this section of the necessary 
substance out of which the Yosemite and big trees 




THE SENTINELS. 



And Mariposa Groves. 65 

were produced. After four or five hours of weari- 
some ascent which, reduced to terms of distance, 
means ten or twelve miles, we alighted, much fa- 
tigued and very hungry, to begin hotel life in the 
rural districts of this country. We ate a very pass- 
able dinner served at a rude hotel near by, but can- 
not now remember whether we enjoyed the rest or 
the eating most. At this place we made our first 
change of horses, which henceforth is regularly 
made at about the same interval. A truly humane 
provision is that of these frequent changes, as toil- 
ing up a steep grade dragging a heavy coach, well 
loaded, over the roughest roads in the world and 
in a choking dust, is a trying thing for the poor 
brutes. 

Continuing over much the same country, we ar- 
rive late in the afternoon at the lively little town 
of Murphy's. How queer it is that in a land where 
such outlandish names as Poker Flat, Yuba Dam, 
Red Dog Gulch, &c., &c., are so common, we 
should find a town with the simple, homely name 
of Murphy's ! Yet Murphy's it was, and we shall 
ever remember it gratefully for a most bounteous 
supper, and its delicious wines, of which we par- 
took while our driver busied himself in completely 
transforming our whole outfit, preparatory to a yet 



66 The Calaveras 



more steep and rugged ascent than we had hither- 
to experienced. It is from this point that the real 
ascent begins; for although we are now within 
only ten miles of the Big Tree grove, we have in 
that distance to mount to the height of over twen- 
ty-three hundred feet. So it becomes necessary 
that all superfluous weight be discarded. We 
therefore change the heavy, lumbering coach for 
that peculiar contrivance, the California stage, 
which possesses all of the bad qualities of the oth- 
er and none of the good. 

Our route now lies along the steep declivity of a 
canyon through whose rocky walls rushes and 
plunges in a thousand cataracts the waters of the 
Union Ditch Company, which is obtained by di- 
verting the head-waters of the Stanislaus river, a 
hundred miles above, and carried in ditches, pipes, 
raceways and flumes around, over and through the 
rocks and gulches of the mountains, and at last dis- 
charged into this canyon to be carried down into 
the foot hills and valleys below, where it is used 
for mining and irrigating purposes. We had scarce- 
ly begun the ascent of this canyon ere we noticed 
a marked change in the surrounding vegetation, 
which became more and more abundant, larger of 
growth, and of greater variety as we advanced, un- 




BIG TREES OF CALAVERAS. 



And Mariposa Groves. 59 

til we were at last encompassed by a forest of such 
marvelous growth as to strangely contrast with the 
absolute want of timber further down. I learn that 
it is a characteristic of this section that the nearer 
you approach to the summit of the Sierras to with- 
in a defined limit, the larger becomes the growth 
of timber. There seems to be a zone along the 
western slope within which all the favorable con- 
ditions of soil, temperature, moisture, &c., contrib- 
ute to excessive vegetable production. I am sure, 
were I to truly describe the number and sizes of 
the different varieties of trees that I saw in the 
course of an ascent of this range, I should be 
charged with exaggeration. The timber is mainly 
yellow pine, although fir, balsam and cedar are 
thickly scattered throughout, and of unusual 
growth. It is no unusual circumstance to see pines 
six to eight feet in diameter, and from 150 to 250 
feet high, clustered in groups or distributed irreg- 
ularly in dense groves over the slopes or in deep 
defiles. So gradual and constant is the increase 
in the size of the timber as you apcend, that the 
mind becomes prepared in a measure for the mi- 
raculous growth of the big tree grove, and the 
effect upon the traveler of this giant forest is much 
lessened by the gradual increase in magnitude 



60 The Calaveras 



to which the eye has thus become familiar. 

Just as the last rays of the sun gilded the dis- 
tant mountain tops, we entered the great grove of 
Calaveras. The entrance into the grove is a befit- 
ting one, the road passing between two of the 
largest trees, called " The Sentinels," each being 
nearly 26 ieet in diameter and over 300 feet in 
bight. 

So familiar had I become with the illusions of 
magnitude and distance in this country that I had 
somewhat prepared my mind for that feeling of 
disappointment so universally felt by travelers 
when they first see these trees; so if I did not 
share in that prevalent feeling it may be due to 
the fact that I had studied the causes and was pre- 
pared for the effect. So symmetrical are these 
huge trees in their proportions, so gentle and reg- 
ular their taper upwards, that one fails to be im- 
pressed with a sense of their real magnitude, yet 
by continued observation and a growing familiar- 
ity their true size is gradually realized. While 
at first they do not impress us with their unusual 
size, yet the singular want of correct proportions 
in other and adjacent familiar objects is apparent, 
so that the real efi"ect of these trees might be said 
not so much to cause an appreciation of their ac- 



And Mariposa Groves. 63 

tual magnitude as to diminish in size objects of 
ordinary proportions around. It is a strange sight 
and awakens peculiar feelings. Horses, men and 
other objects appear singularly small when in 
close proximity to these trees. The horses attached 
to our coach, which before appeared of good size, 
suddenly dwindled to mere ponies in the presence 
of these mammoths, and I looked with bewildered 
senses upon the altered proportions of my com- 
rades as they walked around their ample base. 
This grove is not, as is popularly believed, com- 
posed exclusively of these trees crowded together 
in a small compass ; they are, on the contrary, 
scattered over an extent of some eighty acres, and 
rarely are more than three of them found near 
each other. They are distributed irregularly 
through a dense forest of pines and cedars which 
are themselves of a size to excite the profoundest 
wonder in any other section. Another singular 
fact connected with this species is that no trees of 
this kind small in size are to be found, and no- 
where do they occur except in limited ai'eas, com- 
prising perhaps not more than a dozen localities 
throughout California. They are not to be met 
with except where integrated into these well de- 
fined groups. There are ninety trees of this variety 



64 The Calaveras 



in this grove (the Calaveras) ranging from fifteen 
to twenty-six feet in diameter. Among the larger 
we may mention one that required the labor of 
five men twenty-two days in felling it, which was 
accomplished by boring it ofi* with pump augers. 
So large an area of support did its ample diameter 
aff"ord that after it was completely separated it re- 
quired the aid of wedges to throw it over. Five 
feet above the ground it was twenty-five feet in 
diameter without the bark and twenty-eight in- 
cluding it ; for it must be remembered that the 
bark of these trees varies from twelve to twenty 
inches in thickness. The stump of this tree has 
been carefully leveled, and upon it a cotillion 
party of four sets have danced at one time, afi"ord- 
ing besides sufficient space for a number of spec- 
tators. This tree was over three hundred feet in 
hight. 

The largest tree in the forest now standing is 
called the " Mother of the Forest," and is three 
liundred and twenty-one feet in hight, eighty-four 
feet in circumference without the bark (the bark, 
to the hight of over one hundred feet having been 
removed for exhibition) and at the hight of one 
hundred and forty feet is twelve feet in diameter. 
It is without branches to nearly the hight of one 




THE FALLEN MONARCH. 



tdnd Mariposa Groves. 67 

hundred and fifty feet. It is estimated that this 
tree alone would produce nearly six hundred tliou- 
sand feet of lumber. Think of a single tree large 
enough to build almost an entire village — certainly 
quite enough for some nascent city of the plain. 

Near by lies the huge form of the " Father of the 
Forest," or "Fallen Monarch," said to be the larg- 
est tree in the grove, partially buried in the earth 
and far advanced toward its final decay. It mea- 
sures 110 feet in circumference near the roots, and 
is estimated to have been 430 feet in hight, as at a 
point three hundred feet from its base it is eight- 
een feet in diameter. The remaining upper 
portion having decayed, its total hight becomes a 
matter of comparative computation. For two hun- 
dred feet of its length it is hollow and of sufficient 
size in the interior to permit a person to walk 
erect. This tree would have yielded, according to 
a very moderate estimate, over one million and a 
half feet of lumber ! 

The " burnt tree " is also prostrate, and has been 
hollowed out by frequent burning until a horse- 
man can ride into it a distance of over sixty feet, a 
good liberal thickness of wood remaining as a 
shell. This tree when standing was three hundred 
and thirty feet high and ninety-seven feet in cir- 



68 The Calaveras 



cumference. A large number of these trees show 
visible signs of decay, whether from ripe old age 
or from the frequent fires that abound in these re- 
gions is not known ; but at the present rapid rate 
of destruction of these grand old relics of past 
ages, a few more centuries may see them num- 
bered with the extinct giants of other of nature's 
productions. This species belongs to what scien- 
tific men call " Sequoia Gigantea," and bears a 
very close external resemblance to the common 
cedar, the wood, however, being of a lighter and 
more porous nature, and of but little value in the 
arts. 

Southward from this grove some six or eight 
miles is a still more wonderful collection of these 
trees, known as the South Grove of Calaveras, and 
no doubt by far the most extensive yet found in 
California. In this group there are over 1,300 trees, 
all of the most astounding proportions. One of the 
largest, now lying prostrate, is of such immense 
size that a well-loaded Concord coach could be 
driven for a distance of two hundred feet through 
its trunk. A majority of these fallen trees, in com- 
mon with the one mentioned, are hollow, forming 
immense tubes. 

Attractive as are these monsters of the vegeta- 




DESCENT INTO THE VALLEY. 



And Mariposa Oroves. 71 

ble world, we become weary in the vain effort to 
render in consciousness a clear conception of their 
vast proportions ; and with continual visions of the 
Yosemite haunting us, we are anxious to be off for 
the valley. So at early dawn we bid adieu to the 
big grove and resume our journey thither. 



En Route for the Valley. 



CHAPTER VI. 

En Route for the Valley. 

If the reader will examine a map of California, it 
will be observed that along the entire western 
slope of the Sierras there are parallel valleys cours- 
ing westward and at very short distances apart, so 
that a cross section of this range midway from the 
summit to the valley would present a serrated 
edge not unlike a saw — to which fancied resem- 
blance the name Sierras is due. The reader will 
now see that our route to the Yosemite lies over 
two of these valleys and dividing mountain ridges 
— the Table Mountain and Tuolumne. After leav- 
ing the grove by a rapid descent — in which the 
daring soul of our reckless Jehu found delight in 
the cheerful effort to dislocate our joints or break 
our limbs, and involve us in as much peril as possi- 
ble by furious driving down steep rocky grades and 
sharp curves, all the while heedless of our appeals 
for caution and moderation — we arrived at Mur- 




INDIAN TRAIL UP THE MOUNTAIN. 



En Route for the Valley. 75 

phy's prepared by a most unmercifnl thumping to 
refresh ourselves by a bounteous breakfast and a 
liberal consumption of the enticing wines there to 
be found. This done, we again set out for 
Volliceto, four miles distant, a quaint, dilapi- 
dated, Spanish-looking old town, whose long, 
narrow streets and ragged houses showed that 
whatever once might have given vitality to the 
place had long since departed. We here again 
change stages. Whatever of monotony there may 
be in California staging, it cannot be because 
this eternal changing does not give it variety. So 
chronic, in fact, has this feature of the journey be- 
come, that at the sight of almost every old tumble- 
down shanty I involuntarily seized my valise, pre- 
paratory to that inevitable change which I believe 
must certainly follow; and I may truly say that I 
was seldom disappointed. 

Bearing our course through a country the 
scenery of which was one ever changing panorama 
of beauty, a sudden sweep around the summit of 
the mountain brought to view a spectacle of un- 
rivaled grandeur. Far in the distance below rushed 
the sparkling waters of the Stanislaus (pronounced 
Stan-is-lotv) which seemed but a bright silvery 
thread, a mere rivulet, from our dizzy hight above, 



76 En Route for the Valley. 

stealing softly through the winding mountain 
passes. But after a long and swift descent, we 
found a river over whose turbulent waters it re- 
quired the aid of a ferry to safely pass. This we 
did near that classic ground where occurred the 
sanguinary '^ warfare with the remnants of a Pal- 
eozoic age " so graphically described by Bret Harte 
in his " Row upon the Stanislaus." The scenery 
at the crossing of this river and in the subsequent 
ascent on the other side is by far the finest we have 
met with thus far on our route. But we cannot 
tarry to indulge in a description of its loveliness, 
the interest of which is much increased by the fact 
that in this section for many years was the home 
of Mark Twain and Bret Harte, whose memory is 
still cherished by the inhabitants, as almost every 
one can give you some pleasing reminiscence of 
those great humorists. 

A laborious ascent of a few hours brought us to 
the summit of the dividing range between the 
Stanislaus and Tuolumne rivers, when by a quick 
drive we reached the village of Columbia. Noth- 
ing worthy of note occurred here save the one un- 
accountable, startling fact that we did not here 
change coaches. Columbia is now a ragged, life- 
less town, but was once full of busy life, and in its 



En Route for the Valley. 79 

more prosperous days contained several thousand 
inhabitants. It lies on the verge of the great 
placer mining district of California, or, more prop- 
erly speaking, what once was a mining district, as 
now but very little except quartz mining is done 
in this section. The country, for miles in every di- 
rection, here presents that naked, barren condition 
so peculiarly the result of the hydraulic system of 
mining. All the solvent particles of the soil, to- 
gether with those of a loose movable nature, have 
not only been washed from their bed, but carried 
away into the capacious gulches and ravines, miles 
distant, leaving the country in an inconceivable 
state of nakedness — a sight sorrowful to behold. 
Rising on every side can be seen the pale glinting 
peaks of jagged rocks, that rear their heads again 
after being for ages entombed, and now rest on the 
mountain slopes as one vast Mer de Glace, or like 
the billowed fields of ice in a northern sea. As the 
hydraulic method of mining has done so much to 
change the surface of California, a more detailed 
description of the same may not be without inter- 
est. High up towards the summit of the Sierra 
Nevadas the engineer selects a favorable point 
where a portion of the headwaters of some river 
can be diverted from its channel. It is then car- 



80 En Route for the Valley. 

ried in a canal or ditch, usually of the size of an or- 
dinary mill-race, conveyed in this manner perhaps 
for a few miles, winding around mountain summits 
and curving around the head of some gulch or can- 
yon, then for miles it may be carried in wooden 
flumes, supported by lofty trestle work high above 
the valley whose intervening space it becomes 
necessary to leap. When thus transferred to the 
opposite side of the valley, ditches, flumes and 
pipes are again used in frequent succession, until 
the water is at last conveyed into or near the min- 
ing district where it is to be used. 

The difiiculties encountered in the construction 
of these works are often very great, and their suc- 
cessful completion requires the outlay of large 
sums of money. It is no uncommon thing to carry 
the water in the manner described for nearly one 
hundred miles before one drop of it is used for the 
purpose ultimately intended. Some special feats 
of engineering connected with these works deserve 
particular mention. In the construction of the 
works of the " Union Water Company " it became 
necessary to carry the water along the face of a 
perpendicular wall of rock several miles in length 
and several hundred feet in hight. This was done 
by suspending a wooden flume miles in length and 




EL CAPITAN— S,SOO FEET HIGH. 



11 



En Route for the Valley. 83 

about midway down the rocky buttress, by iron rods 
secured to the verge of the clifF above. In order 
to prepare the fastenings for these bolts, workmen 
were suspended by ropes from above, who wrought 
in the perpendicular face of the rock the necessary 
anchorage of the supporting bolts. Over an impass- 
able gorge I noticed that the water was sometimes 
carried in iron pipes, which in turn were supported 
by a suspension bridge of construction similar to 
larger structures of the same kind. In crossing a 
valley in the Tuolumne range, I noticed where the 
water was carried in an iron pipe at least two miles 
in length and following the depressions of the 
valley. This pipe was eighteen inches in diameter, 
and at the lowest point could have been but little 
less than four hundred feet below the surface of 
the water in the canal above with which it con- 
nected. I was much astonished at first to observe 
that the thickness of this pipe only slightly ex- 
ceeded one-eighth of an inch, knowing that the 
pressure under this great hight was but little in- 
ferior to the tensile strength of the iron. But on 
reflection I soon saw that a very small excess of 
strength in the pipe was necessary, as having free 
communication at either end with the canal, no 
sudden check in the flow of the water could en- 



84 En Route for the Vallejj. 

sue, and the pipe, therefore, was not liable to un- 
due and excessive pressure from that cause. I am 
sure that the company referred to have not less 
than twenty miles of wooden flume. After the 
water has thus been carried into the vicinity of a 
mining district, the main canal is divided into a 
great number of smaller ditches, each taking a dif- 
ferent direction into the various sections of the 
mining locality. This forms the primary system of 
distribution. It is afterwards again divided and 
subdivided into small sluices and ditches to meet 
the wants of individual miners, so that the entire 
mining district is completely ramified by an intri- 
cate net-work of small channels, sluices and pipes. 
After the water has been used it is again collected, 
far down some valley, and again made useful to 
the miner by a similar re-distribution ; so that it is 
no uncommon thing for water to be utilized in this 
manner many times over. 

It is astonishing to see with what avidity the 
miner has sought every portion of earth he may 
chance to believe would pay for the labor of work- 
ing. Even the streets of this town have been fur- 
rowed and undermined in search of the precious 
metal; and I noticed that houses had been re- 
moved for the same purpose. Even the sacred 







BRIDAL VEIL FALL— 940 FEET HIGH. 



En Route for the Valley. 87 

precincts of the dead scarcely served to stay the 
searching greed of the miner, and his eager desire 
to explore the tempting " pay dirt" that held the 
remains of the rude forefathers of the placer im- 
pelled him to carry his denuding efforts to the very 
verge of the church-yard ; so that it stands a soli- 
tary promontory in this vast scene of desolation, at 
once the tomb of the lifeless miner and a fitting 
monument to the living miner's absorbing thirst 
for gold. 

As placer mining has now to be numbered vir- 
tually among the extinct industries of this country, 
these grand monuments of the enterprise and skill 
of the early settlers are now no longer used, save 
in a limited way, for their original purpose. But 
upon the ruins of one industry has arisen another, 
and happily these artificial water-courses are yet 
preserved, in the main intact, for the purpose of 
irrigation, thus giving rise to a far more enduring 
and lucrative industry. 

Leaving these desolate fields, a few hours' travel 
changes the scene into a most cheerful and invit- 
ing one. As we approach the beautiful town of 
Sonora the aspect of the whole country reminds 
one of Italian softness and sublimity. Here are 
to be found the finest orchards in the State, and 



88 En Route for the Valley. 

the astonishing fruit-producing resources of Cali- 
fornia become apparent. The eye is greeted by 
an endless succession of orchards, whose unrivaled 
abundance and quality of fruits is equaled only by 
their variety. Within the limits of a single garden 
I observed, growing in rare perfection, apples, 
pears, peaches, apricots, plums, figs, grapes, nec- 
tarines, oranges and lemons — a promiscuous col- 
lection which I believe impossible to any but the 
genial clime of California. At Sonora occurs an- 
other change of coach, and after tarrying for din- 
ner we set out for Chinese Camp, which we reach 
after the severest experience of heat and dust we 
have yet encountered. Chinese Camp is not, as 
the name would indicate, of Chinese population, 
but acquired the name from the fact of a few 
Chinamen settling here at an early day, an event 
deemed of sufiicient importance to be commemo- 
rated in thus naming the town. 

Soon after leaving Chinese Camp we reach the 
Tuolumne river, along whose banks our route now 
lies, passing occasionally small, antiquated mining 
camps, some orchards, and now and then a ranche 
of some pretensions ; and at last cross the river in 
one of the rudest imaginable ferries, but in a most 
romantic spot. We now follow in the rocky bed 




NEVADA FALL— 740 FEET HIGH. 



12 



En Route for the Valley. 91 



(now dry) of a tributary of this river, until we 
reach the foot of the Tuolumne range of mountains, 
which, by an ascent of tedious slowness, we climb 
for hours. The tax on our patience is in a measure 
compensated by the grandeur of the scenery which 
gradually unfolds in a thousand varied forms of 
beauty as we mount toward the summit, 

Garrote (a rather ominous name) is our next 
stopping place, which we reach at a late hour of 
the night, very tired and hungry, glad to avail our- 
selves of the few short hours for sleep given the 
traveler; but scarcely shut our eyes until we are 
ruthlessly aroused, to resume our journey at a very 
early hour. Garrote, until within a year and a half, 
was the nearest point to the valley which could be 
reached by stage; so from this point the tourist 
took the saddle train and rode into the valley, a 
distance of about forty miles. The rapidly increas- 
ing desire to visit the Yosemite has caused the 
construction of a very passable road to Tamarack 
Flat, a distance of about thirty miles from this 
point, and perhaps as far towards the valley as it 
will ever be practicable to construct a road ; as I 
doubt if the engineering skill of this or any other 
age will be equal to the task of constructing a road 
from the last-mentioned point into the valley. 



92 En Route for the Valley. 

On the road from Garrote to Tamarack Flat we 
again meet with that gradual increase of timber to 
be observed in the ascent of almost any of the 
parallel ranges on the western slope. When at a 
distance of about six miles from Tamarack Flat we 
pass through the Tuolumne grove of big trees of 
the same variety as the Calaveras grove. There 
are in this grove some fifty of these trees, many of 
which are very near the road, so that from the 
coach one gets a very satisfactory view of them. 
What I saw in this grove I have not the space to 
detail, but suffice it to say, it contains specimens of 
these trees that will entirely satisfy those who do 
not wish to make a detour to the Calaveras grove, 
the trees of which surpass those of the Tuolumne 
grove only in number. 



f If '-« TP,, 





YOSEMITE FALL-2,634 FEET HIGH. 



In the y alley. 95 



CHAPTER VII. 

In The Valley. 

At Tamarack Flat we find the saddle train in 
readiness for us, and are soon prepared to descend 
into the valley, which is ten miles distant and 
nearly five thousand feet below this point. While 
equipping ourselves for this new experience, we 
learned from our guides a rather amusing incident 
which occurred on the occasion of a recent visit of 
Susan B. Anthony to the valley, and which the 
guides took great delight in relating to all travel- 
ers. It seems that the worthy lady, on arriving at 
this point, was seized with a laudable desire to 
give some tangible proof of the fitness of her claims 
to be called strong-minded, and resolved to ride 
into the valley on that modification of a saddle 
which the usages of all nations have decreed to the 
sterner sex. But this design was more readily 
conceived than executed; as after she had vainly 



96 In the Valley. 



tried to adjust her person to some ten or a dozen 
saddles, various in their construction, she only at 
last so indiflferently succeeded that after a trial of 
a few miles she abandoned the effort altogether — 
thus indicating a degree of femininity that must 
have been discouraging in the extreme to one 
whose chief ambition is to prove the umlimited 
masculine capabilities of her sex. 

We have now to make a descent of almost 5,000 
feet in order to reach the valley, which is itself 
4,000 feet above the sea. The distance into the 
valley is about ten miles, counting the sinuosities 
of the trail, but perhaps not half so far in a direct 
line. After a steep descent of an hour or more 
through a dense undergrowth of brushwood, quite 
shutting out all distant views, our guide suddenly 
dismounted and secured his beast to a convenient 
bush, we following his example. Here the unsus- 
pecting traveler is cheered with the momentary 
hope that the end of his journey is nigh at hand; 
but, as I was soon to learn, the real problem of 
descent into the valley remained to be solved. 
Following our guide a short distance, we suddenly 
emerged from the brushwood upon a bold project- 
ing rock, known as Prospect Point. The scene of 
unrivaled grandeur thus suddenly disclosed can 



In the Valley. 97 



never be described. Never shall I forget the feel- 
ings of mingled awe and wonder awakened by this 
scene, and to the latest hour of my life will remain 
impressed upon my memory a vivid picture of the 
ineffable glories I there beheld. 

There are scenes of distance and magnitude that 
outrun the powers of thought ; so there are specta- 
cles of bewildering beauty and sublimity that 
transcend imagination. I could only gaze in silence 
upon the awe-inspiring grandeur of the vast and 
solemn immensity stretching out before but far 
beneath us. Three thousand feet below rushed the 
silvery waters of the Merced (River of Mercy) 
whose thunders are lost in a thousand ever weak- 
ening echoes among the stony battlements that 
imprison it, so that a profound stillness reigns, as 
if to deepen the impressiveness of the scene. 
When we say 3,000 feet, few can realize so great a 
hight. Let us aid the imagination. Many of my 
readers, doubtless, have gazed down upon the 
seething waters of Niagara from Table Rock. If 
an elevation twelve times as great can be imagined, 
some idea of the hight of which I speak may be 
realized. 

With no small effort we turn from this entranc- 
ing scene to resume our descent. 

13 



98 In the Valley. 



The guide now carefully examines our saddles to 
reassure himself of their security — a precaution 
well taken, as we soon see, for with all our experi- 
ence with steep grades we have encountered none 
like these which are before us. The trail which we 
follow is narrow, crooked and in many places 
treacherous ; and is, in fact, merely a small groove 
made by separating the mass of broken granite and 
gravel that lies on the steep declivity, and which 
by long and continual use has been worn to a con- 
siderable depth. About half way down, the trail 
makes a sharp turn around a projecting point and 
passes but a few feet from the verge of a fearful 
precipice, so near that one fatal misstep of the sure- 
footed beast would have plunged rider and all 
in one frightful descent into an abyss of over one 
thousand feet, without so much as a twig to stay 
their fall. We finally reach the Merced river, along 
the banks of which we follow for a mile or more 
and then enter the valley. We at once seek the 
hotel, which is kept by that very pleasant gentle- 
man, Mr. Hutchings* (to whom the world is mainly 
indebted for a knowledge of the Yosemite) who is 



*Mr. Hutchings is the author of a very interesting and popular 
boolv entitled "Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity in California," pub- 
lished by A. Roman & Co., 417 and 419 Montgomery Street, San Fran- 
cisco, and 27 Howard Street, New York City. 



In the Valley. 90 



unsparing in his efforts to make all around him 
agreeable and cheerful — and seldom does one see 
efforts more effectual. 

Since we are in the valley, let us gaze about us 
and study some (for the possibilities of the case 
limit us to only a few) of the endless wonders that 
encompass us. The valley is elliptical in form, 
about six miles in length and nearly 1^ miles at its 
greatest width, diminishing both to the North and 
South to a mere narrow pass between the rocky 
walls, through which the Merced river enters and 
emerges, winding irregularly through the valley 
near its center. The soil of the valley is for the 
most part quite fertile, as a prolific vegetation 
shows. There are several very promising orchards 
here, and many beautiful gardens. 

The geologic formation of this valley is a first- 
class problem for scientists. Unlike the many 
parallel water-courses that find their way down the 
western slope of the Sierras, the Merced does not 
descend in conformity with the general slope of 
the country, but here, for the distance of some six 
miles, suddenly drops several thousand feet, after- 
ward descending in a gradual, uniform manner, as 
in common with the other rivers of this country. 
Scientific men have assigned the origin of this val- 



100 In the Valley. 



ley to several different causes. Some maintain that 
it is a fissure produced by the bending of the 
primeval bed of rock. Others attribute it to that 
common origin of vallej^s, erosion, while others in- 
sist that it has been caused by subsidence or a 
sudden sinking away of so much of the country as 
now constitutes the area of the valley — literally, to 
use an expression current there, that the bottom 
has fallen out. To myself the first seems the most 
satisfactory explanation, yet there appears to be 
wanting as essential to that theory that conform- 
ity of the opposing walls of rock which ought to be 
found under the hypothesis. Yet this, after all, 
cannot be held to seriously militate against the 
theory, since it is to be noticed that the granite 
composing these cliffs is unusually soft and hence 
liable to rapid destruction ; so that the work of the 
elements through long ages might have entirely 
changed the original contour of these rocky walls. 
Taking our position in the center of the valley, 
we see perpendicular walls of rock in every direc- 
tion, rising to the hight of three or four thousand 
feet above the valley, so that a sense of isolation 
and imprisonment thrills one with a momentary 
terror. Nothing in all nature can equal the scene 
now about us. Europe has its Gibraltar and Lau- 



In the Valley. 101 



terbrunnen: Asia its stony battlements of the 
Daghestan ; Africa its roaring torrents of the Zam- 
besi and the mysteries of the Nile ; South America 
its frowning Chimborazo — but what are all these 
to compare with the overshadowing splendor of El 
Oapitan and Cathedral Dome, the Yosemite Falls 
and Pohono's ever wind-obeying veil, the glittering 
torrents of Nevada and Vernal Falls, the Cap of 
Liberty, Royal Arch and a thousand other objects 
of equal grandeur and sublimity crowded here into 
one majestic presence within the momentary gaze 
of the beholder ! 

To the left, more than a mile away, rises the gray 
frowning front of El Capitan, over 3,200 feet per- 
pendicular; a hight so great that our efforts to 
realize it will be aided by the fact that although 
more than a mile distant, in looking towards its 
summit it subtends much the same angle as would 
a tall steeple viewed from across a street. On the 
opposite side, standing as lofty watch towers, rise 
the Cathedral Rocks to a hight of over three thous- 
and feet, over which pour the waters of the Bridal 
Veil Fall, in one long unbroken sheet of watery 
foam of dazzling brightness, 940 feet in height. 
Nothing can exceed the beauty of these falls, 
viewed at a distance. The water does not seem to 



102 In the Valley. 



fall through this great hight, but merely floats or 
drags its course along, down the wall of rock upon 
which it seems to rest. Directly in front of you, 
in full view,'are the highest waterfalls on the globe 
— the Yosemite Falls, which, including two small 
breaks, descend through a hight of over 2,600 feet. 
The first of the series has a clear descent of 1,600 
feet. Think of one unbroken fall nearly eleven 
times as high as Niagara, or nearly nineteen times 
as high, including the whole fall ! 

Like all objects of unusual extent and magni- 
tude, this valley produces in the mind of the be- 
holder such singular impressions and indefinable 
ideas that it is useless to attempt to convey to 
others by mere description an image of it. I can 
only say that it is one of those things that must be 
seen ere a correct impression of it can be obtained. 
I have seen many of the finest paintings of these 
falls, besides many splendid photos, neither of 
which, certainly, can be charged with a departure 
from reality ; yet none of them have, nor as I be- 
lieve can have, the power to represent their sub- 
ject in all its grandeur and immensity. Trees that 
rear their lofty tops hundreds of feet in the air 
seem but little shrubs growing at the summit and 
base of the falls. I noticed one which I was told 



In the Valley. 103 



is 125 feet high ; yet I had to multiply its hight 
nearly thirteen times upon that rocky wall, against 
the foot of which it stood projected as a mere shrub. 

The limits of our time forbid other than a mere 
glance at the Nevada Fall, where the entire waters 
of the Merced plunge 740 feet; the Cap of Liberty, 
a cone-like rock rising alone over three thousand 
feet ; the Vernal Fall with its world of beauties ; 
the Royal Arch, or the vast Domes, most perilous 
of ascent, rearing their solemn heads over four 
thousand feet above the valley. Weeks, nay 
months might here be consumed ere a satisfactory 
view could be obtained of the endless panorama 
of wonders which nature here spreads before us. 

But the mind wearies in the vain effort to take 
in magnitudes so vast. Let us then turn to scenes 
more, as we may say, of this world. Following up the 
main valley for a mile or so and leading off to the 
left up a narrow defile, being the course of a 
branch of the Merced, with which it here unites, 
we find about one mile from the mouth of the can- 
yon. Mirror Lake, which to many is an object of 
unusual beauty and mystery. It is a lake of about 
two acres in extent, from the silvery surface of 
which surrounding objects are reflected with 
surprising accuracy and distinctness. The bold 



104 In the Valley. 



rocky peaks which quite surround it are at certain 
hours of the day reflected with almost the vivid- 
ness of the object itself. Upon its waters is a rus- 
tic boat for the accommodation of those who wish 
to obtain varied reflections. From careful study 
of the lake and its surroundings I am led to assign 
this peculiar power of reflection to three causes : 
first, to the perfectly placid surface of the lake, 
which is owing to its complete enclosure within 
high rocky walls, preventing it from being ruffled 
by even a breath of air ; second, to the great trans- 
parency of its waters ; and third and mainly, to a 
deposit of iron that is held by the waters in mild 
solution. This I noticed was evenly and uniformly 
deposited over the whole bottom, giving it quite a 
dark color, the eff'ect of which is similar to that ob- 
tained by the well-known practice of smoking or 
covering with any dark substance the obverse side 
of a glass to highten the reflective power of its sur- 
face next the eye. These combined causes I think 
amply account for the strange phenomenon, with- 
out our being compelled to refer it, as popular su- 
perstition has, to some mysterious, occult power 
in the water. 

It is not possible in the limits of a single chapter 
to even mention all of the wonderful objects to be 



In the Valley. 105 



seen in this valley ; and as our time is up to return, 
we with many regrets leave this loveliest of spots 
upon this globe. Our return to San Francisco was 
by the same route as that already traveled, and 
was unattended with any important incidents. I 
however noticed that many objects that on our 
way to the valley attracted my attention by their 
unusual magnitude now seemed reduced to very 
ordinary proportions — so strangely do our ideas de- 
pend upon the relativity of things. 

After five days of relentless thumping and bump- 
ing in that highest triumph of the tormentor's art, 
a California stage, wrapped in a stifling cloud of 
alkali-laden dust, broiled by the fierce glare of a 
tropical noon-day sun or chilled by a wintry mount- 
ain blast, mentally weary and physically prostra- 
ted, if I were asked " Does it pay to go to the Yo- 
semite ?" I should unhesitatingly reply " It does !" 
And let me here urgently insist, if you are in Cali- 
fornia, that you do not by any manner of means 
fail to visit the Yosemite — not only for the marvel- 
ous scenes there to be beheld, but to determine for 
yourself whether what you do see is an adequate 
equivalent for the days of privation and toil you 
endure in search of it. 



14 



1U6 From San Francisco to Honolulu. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 

Fkom San Francisco to Honolulu. 

On our arrival at San Francisco we were pleased 
to learn that the steamer on which we were to 
take passage for the Sandwich Islands would be 
delayed a few days beyond the advertised time, in 
consequence of a detention of the London mails. 
This gave us a few days in which to stroll through 
the city and shake oif the dust of sixty days' travel 
across the continent. Through the kindness of our 
most excellent Postmistress, Mrs. Sanderson, we 
were pro^^ded with letters of introduction to her 
nephews, Messrs. Aaron and Nathan Stein of the 
California Bank and Wells, Fargo & Co. To these 
gentlemen we are much indebted for their many 
acts of courtesy. 

On Monday, the 27tli of April, we went aboard 
the steamer, after having supplied ourselves with 
everything needful to contribute to our comfort 



From San Francisco to Honolulu. 107 

during the voyage, and, as I afterward learned, 
much that was superfluous ; but being somewhat 
green about matters pertaining to ocean travel, in 
the most verdant manner possible we added at 
once to our stock of plunder anything our friends 
and acquaintances might casually suggest as of pos- 
sible utility. As the through passengers from Lon- 
don to Aukland and Sydney rightly had the prefer- 
ence as to accommodations, we were obliged to wait 
until they were all well on board before our quar- 
ters were assigned us. We, however, managed to 
secure moderately comfortable quarters, myself 
and wife occupying the small state room given us 
near midship, and the Professor and an English 
gentleman bound for New Zealand taking an ad- 
joining room. This line of steamers is called the 
Australasian and American Mail Line, and is the 
only one now running to the South Pacific, having 
supplanted the old Webb line. It carries the Brit- 
ish mail, for which the owners receive a subsidy of 
£80,000 annually. The line is an experiment and 
is designed to compete with the old route through 
Suez and the Red Sea, the belief being that much 
shorter time can be made by this route, besides 
the journey being more pleasant. Our country is 
certainly much interested in the success of the 



108 From San Francisco to Honolulu. 

project, as it would cover not only the transit of 
immense cxuantities of freight through the entire 
length and breadth of our land, but large numbers 
of travelers also. The line will evidently not pay 
pecuniarily, from present indications, at least not 
directly; but true to English far-seeing foreign 
policy, its ultimate purpose is no doubt to form an 
integral part of that gigantic naval system which 
is fast giving to her the sovereignty of the seas. 
This particular line is therefore, no doubt, intended 
to serve as a thread to weave more securely 
together her South Pacific possessions, recently so 
largely extended by the annexation of the Fijis. 
The boats now running are placed on the line 
merely temporarily, pending the construction of 
five large iron steamers after the model of the 
White Star boats. It makes one feel small, and 
begets withal a sense of humiliation, that the mo- 
ment one steps from the shores of the United 
States all traces of her greatness disappear, and 
even for the privilege of seeing the Sandwich 
Islands one has to pay tribute to a foreign flag. 

Well, nothing is impossible with the omnipotent, 
universal Yankee ; and as our country has already, 
in the field of art, science and literature, accom- 
plished about all that is useful to the world, who 



From San Francisco to Honolulu. 109 

knows but what we may yet have a navy that will 
surpass the wildest dreams of a Brunei or a Scott 
Russell ? But, after all, the present state of the 
case is only an equitable adjustment of values. 
Since we are so great, and have so much of every- 
thing else, while England is so poor in comparison, 
it would be the extreme of littleness to begrudge 
her the feeble and paltry foothold she is striving 
to gain in the Pacific. 

Amid the usual bustle and clamor attending the 
departure of an ocean steamer, we drifted away 
from the wharf— from the city — through the Golden 
Gate — into the broad Pacific. Before night we had 
passed out of sight of land, and we were indeed in 
the midst of the ocean. 

For the first day we felt pretty comfortable, but 
with occasional signs of impending trouble. There 
was nothing of note that occurred to vary the mo- 
notony until the second morning. As I lay in my 
bunk trying to make up my mind whether 'twere 
better to endure the ills &c., &c., I heard the Pro- 
fessor's English companion calling in a loud, ex- 
cited manner for the steward. In answer to this 
call, which might have been heard in " Frisco," a 
waiter put in an appearance. " Tell the steward to 
come here ! I want the steward !" was the peremp- 



110 From San Francisco to Honolulu. 



tory order. I began to get interested, and forgot 
that my stomach was clamoring for a little brandy 
and water. When the steward arrived, much ex- 
cited over the hasty summons, the Englishman 
demanded of him " Do you know a centipede when 
you see it ?" " I rather think I do," the steward re- 
plied. "Well, just raise up that pillow and tell 
me what that customer looks like." The steward 
did as directed, when sure enough, there lay coiled 
up in all its jointed ugliness a first-class centipede, 
sleeping as placidly as though he had not been all 
night within a few inches of a fat, juicy English- 
man. This began to be rather exciting, and with- 
out proper regard to the state of my stomach or 
toilet, I leaped out of my bunk and for a time there 
was a general hunt for centipedes. In fact, I never 
knew centipedes in such demand. I hunted under 
difiiculties, although, as the steamer rolled and 
plunged in an unusually vicious manner. I hunted 
diligently in every nook and corner for nearly a 
half hour, when at last I found— well, I did not 
find a centipede, but I found something a great 
deal worse — I found that I had to cast up accounts. 
This I did in a most thorough manner. There is a 
limit to everything, even to the contents of one's 
stomach ; and it was only when the extremest lim- 




THE PROFESSOR'S FIRST '' SPECIMEN.' 



From San Francisco to Honolulu. 113 



its had been reached that the insatiable demands 
of Neptune were satisfied. After throwing up in a 
lively manner for about a half hour, I forgot all 
about centipedes and sat down to reflect upon the 
situation. I had not thought the matter over more 
than twenty minutes until I began to suspect I was 
sea sick. I still think I was right. While we were 
all in an agitated state the Professor, true to the 
habit of his life, was taking a scientific view of the 
matter, trying to devise means to secure the centi- 
pede as a trophy. Having obtained a bottle, by 
dint of careful handling the ugly creature was at 
last stowed away in fine spirits and is in a good 
state of preservation. 

During the day I went on deck to get a breath 
of bracing sea air. I found the Professor sitting in 
an easy chair, looking pale, weak and faint. At 
this juncture the Captain happened along, and 
with his usual civility asked the Professor how he 
felt. In the feeblest tones imaginable, he replied : 
" Miserable, miserable — I am sick, Captain, I'm 
sick ! I have paid tribute to Neptune until I have 
lost everything." " But," says the Captain, "I see 
you still have your boots left." "Yes," says the 
Professor faintly, " but they were on the outside !" 

Being in latitude 30°, we were nearing the region 

15 



114 From San Francisco to Honolulu. 

where flying fish are to be found, and we were in 
hourly expectation of seeing them. Suddenly the 
Professor made a rush for the bulwarks, and stood 
gazing pensively for some time into the depths of 
the blue ocean. The mate, seeing him so wrapt in 
meditation, asked what the Professor was so in- 
tently observing. "Looking for flying fish, I sup- 
pose," I had scarcely replied, when I felt an irre- 
sistible impulse to join the Professor in his obser- 
vations. After looking intently for some minutes, 
I saw something fly; but as fish do not fly vertical- 
ly, I am sure it was not a fish. We were all quite 
sick for two days. It was my first experience of 
real sea-sickness, and I am free to say that it came 
up fully to its traditional horrors. After the fourth 
day we were all on deck again, nor were we troub- 
led afterward save by a slight nausea at times. 
The Pacific ocean has the reputation of being a 
smooth, placid sea, but the term does not fitly ap- 
ply except for a few months in the Summer. It 
becomes during the rest of the year, as I am in- 
formed by old salts, quite as turbulent as any other 
body of water. 

In latitude 26° we struck the trade winds, which 
greatly accelerated our speed. From this onward 
our trip was one of unvarying monotony — the same 




^NOW YOU SEE IT AND NOW YOU DON'T." 



From San Francisco to Honolulu. 117 

waves, the same skies and the same dull throbbing 
of the tireless engine day after day. Having no- 
ticed the rather mixed character of our crew, by 
way of pastime, I took an inventory of the various 
nationalities represented on board. The result 
was somewhat surprising even in this cosmopoli- 
tan region, where nations blend in such rare con- 
fusion. We had an English captain, Irish and 
Scotch first and second officers, an American purs- 
er, a Malay steward, German stewardess, Chinese 
cooks, Japanese waiters, Negro, Portuguese, Span- 
ish, Kanaka, and inhabitants of the Fiji, Microne- 
sian and New Zealand Islands for stokers and sail- 
ors. The passengers were almost as well mixed, 
making altogether about as checkered a crowd as 
you will ever see collected. We were assured by 
the captain that on the evening of the eighth day 
we would sight land ; and as the time approached, 
as it at last did, although I thought it never would, 
every eye was strained in the direction in which 
land promised to appear. Sunset came, and no 
land. Darkness came, and still no land. With a 
feeling of disappointment most of the passengers 
went below. It was apparent that the Captain had 
missed his reckoning. About 11 o'clock the Cap- 
tain called my attention to a bank of heavy clouds 



118 From San Francisco to Honolulu. 

just forward of the starboard bow, apparently at 
the distance of twenty miles. "Those clouds," 
said he, "are hovering over the island of Oahu, and 
in two hours we will be along the shore." I re- 
turned to my room and fell asleep. When I awoke 
it was with the sound of strange voices in my ears. 
I raised myself and looked through the dead-light, 
and the first thing that met my view was a cluster 
of tall cocoa-nut trees, near the shore ; then a 
crowd of strangely dressed, dusky faced people, 
scurrying about in a quick, excited manner; curi- 
ous one-story grass houses ; a long line of whale- 
ships ; a range of rugged, strangely colored mount- 
ains in the distance ; clumps of dense, tropical 
verdure — an endless panorama of new and beauti- 
ful sights, bearing evidence that we were indeed 
in a strange land, and safe at last in the friendly 
harbor of Honolulu. 

It was but the work of a minute to arrange our 
toilet, collect our personal effects and rush on 
deck. The view that greeted us — the broad Pacific, 
skirted with snowy billows as it rolled over the 
coral reef that incloses the harbor, the rich tropi- 
cal verdure on all hands, the soft, delicious air and 
clear sunny sky — all combined to form a marked 
contrast with the wintry scenes we had so recently 



From San Francisco to Honolulu. 119 

left. No trick of magic ever produced an effect 
more thrilling or startling. As the arrival of a 
steamer is one of the most important events in the 
islands, the natives, of course, gathered in great 
numbers along the shore. It was to us a singular 
sight to see these quaint, dusky children of the 
sea as they surged about the wharf, a mingled mass 
of every age, sex, rank and condition, wildly ges- 
ticulating and chattering in an unearthly manner. 
The variety of costumes was something calculated 
to puzzle the most zealous devotee of fashion. 
Their garments were of every conceivable color, 
shape and quantity. I say quantity, because on 
the one hand you would see some dusky belle float- 
ing around in a bolt or two of blazing calico, 
formed into the voluminous "holoku," and perhaps 
by her side some brawny, stalwart Kanaka with 
rich, oily skin and hair like a hay stack, in an elab- 
orate dress composed entirely of one quarter of a 
yard of dirty linen, so disposed about his person as 
to most nearly meet the proprieties of good socie- 
ty. We passed down the gangway between along 
file of natives who held in their hands for sale, 
baskets of the most bewitching coral, and luscious 
fruits, such as guavas, mangos, chiramayas &c.,&c. 
As soon as we touched the solid earth, we thought 



120 From San Francisco to Bonolulu. 

something had happened ; in fact we had a sort of 
suspicion that an earthquake was tilting the island 
about in a ridiculous manner. We expected in this 
volcanic region to feel earthquakes, but the un- 
pleasant and inconvenient manner in which the 
earth kept swaying about was a little more of this 
phenomenon than we had bargained for. We be- 
gan to feel a little queer, when to our inexpressi- 
ble relief, I discovered that the sensation was only- 
relative in its origin, and that it was merely an 
effort of nature to adjust our sea legs to the solid 
immovable earth upon which we again found our- 
selves. We went directly to the Hawaiian Hotel, 
a house delightfully embowered in a pleasant 
grove, and almost smothered under a load of clus- 
tering vines of many varieties. 



The Topography of the Pacifie. 121 



CHAPTER IX. 
The Topography of the Pacific. 

Although there exists some general popular 
knowledge of the islands of the Hawaiian Archi- 
pelago, I will venture, even at the risk of becoming 
prolix, to give a few facts touching their topogra- 
phy, sociology, &c. 

There are in this group in all 12 islands, of which 
only 8 are inhabited, the rest being but barren 
rocks of unproductive lava small in extent. The 
inhabited islands are, Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, Kauai, 
Molokai, Lanai, Niihau and Kahoolawe, being in 
size and importance about in the order given. The 
superficial area of these islands is 6,000 square miles, 
Hawaii, the largest, containing 4,000, and Kahoo- 
lawe, the smallest, only 60 square miles. As they lie 
between the parallels of 18° 50' and 22° 20' north, 
they are fairly within the tropics. They are en- 
tirely volcanic in structure and origin ; not a trace 
of sedimentary rock is to be found on any of the 
islands. The mountains are mere huge piles of 

10 



I'd 2 The Topography of the Pacific. 

lava that has accumulated by successive overflows 
from the many active craters in which these 
islands once abounded, and which are now met 
with in great numbers in an extinct state. 

When looking out upon the broad level expanse 
of the ocean, the thought is naturally suggested 
that the same causes which have produced as ter- 
restrial effects, the mountain ranges, hills and val- 
leys and other familiar conformations of surface, 
did not operate to vary the contour of the ocean's 
bed in the same manner and degree. We have 
therefore come into the habit of associating the 
level, smooth surface of the ocean with a fancied 
correspondence of surface below. The increasing 
complexity in the demands of modern navigation, 
arising out of the inter-relation of the rapidly 
growing arts and sciences, has given rise to the 
necessity of studying more closely, not only the 
complicated problems of meteorology, but the to- 
pography, the very bottom of the ocean itself. 

The eff"orts primarily directed to promote the int- 
erests of commerce have been the means, therelbre, 
of producing as a secondary result, a rapid advance 
in our knowledge of submarine geography. The 
long and careful study of oceanic currents, the 
many elaborate and exhaustive coast surveys upon 



The Topography of the Pacific. 125 

our eastern shores, as well as the deep sea sound- 
ings necessitated by the rise of ocean telegraphy, 
have within the past few years familiarized us with 
the surface — so to speak — that lies at the bottom 
of the Atlantic ocean. This is especially true of 
that zone which lies in the international line of 
communication between this country and Europe, 
so that it may be said of so much of the topogra- 
phy embraced within those limits, that we are al- 
most as familiar with it as with the topography of 
the State of New York or California. For various 
reasons, particularly the extreme difficulties in the 
way of eifecting satisfactory soundings at extraor- 
dinary depths, our knowledge of the bottom of the 
Pacific Ocean has until recently been very lim- 
ited and imperfect. A rapidly growing commerce 
with Japan, China, and other Asiatic nations, has 
rendered it essential that our knowledge be more 
general and perfect upon this subject. With a 
view to this end, our government, about a year 
ago, detailed a war vessel, the Tuscarora, for this 
service. This vessel, under command of Commo- 
dore Belknap, completed in a very satisfactory 
manner the work assigned, and the results of her 
soundings have only recently been given to the 
world. 



126 The Topography of the Pacific. 



Beginning at San Diego, California, and sailing 
in a direct line for the Sandwich Islands, soundings 
were made at intervals of forty miles, the distance 
being something over 2,200 miles. Aline of sound- 
ings was then subsequently made, extending from 
Japan to the Aleutian Islands, on the west coast 
of Alaska. The service rendered to navigation by 
these researches will no doubt prove to be of im- 
mense practical as well as scientific value. 

In a distance extending 100 miles west of San 
Diego the depth of the ocean was found to be from 
3,700 to 5,730 feet. Within this distance there are 
two valleys, at the respective depths given, sepa- 
rating two ranges of peaks or mountains, the hight 
of the first, or that nearest the coast, being 2,670 
feet, and of the second 3,396 feet. In longitude 
119° 28' west and latitude 31° 45' north, a very sud- 
den dropping down occurs, giving, at a distance of 
115 miles from San Diego, a depth of 11,490 feet, 
From this point, for the space of over 900 miles, 
the bed of the ocean is one of almost unbroken 
uniformity, descending with a gentle slope of 
about three feet to the mile, until in longitude 
127° 37' and latitude 26° 30', another range of 
mountains is found to rise to the hight of over 3,000 
feet. 



0) 


o 

23 




The Topography of the Pacific. 129 



Beyond this range the same gentle declivity 
continues through a distance of nearly 800 miles, 
when a point of greatest depth is reached, at a dis- 
tance of 400 miles east of Honolulu. This depth 
was found to be 18,324 feet. The soundings within 
close range of the islands gave some unlooked for 
and remarkable results, which lend additional 
strength to the theory of the almost purely volcanic 
origin of this group of islands. At a distance of 
only 24 miles from Molokai (the central island of 
the group) a depth of 12,516 feet was shown, and 
at the distance of 43 miles from the same island, 
the soundings indicated the great depth of 18,138 
feet. 

By the second line of soundings, it was dis- 
covered that from latitude 34° 58^ north and longi- 
tude 140° 15' east, to latitude 35° 33' and longitude 
141°, with few and unimportant irregularities of 
surface, there was a uniform average depth of 
about 600 feet. Within this distance, the instrument 
brought to the surface fragments of shell, together 
with grayish black mud and sand. In longitude 
141° 22^, being about eighty miles east of Yeddo, 
Japan, there commences a precipitous slope, quick- 
ly reaching a depth of 3,480 feet; thence by a rapid 
fall through a distance of nearly 120 miles, in lon- 

it 



130 The Toj)ogrcij)hy of the Pacific. 

gitude 143° 40', the depth becomes something over 
20,500 feet. 

In the next eighty miles there is an eleva- 
tion, in fact a mountain range 7,000 feet in hight, 
which is again followed by a rapid descent for the 
distance of nearly 500 miles, being in reality the 
north-eastern slope of this submarine mountain 
range, when in longitude 152° 16' and latitude 44° 
55' the enormous depth of 27,980 feet, or over 5^ 
miles, was indicated. Here follows again a gradu- 
al ascent, being the western slope of a chain of 
peaks — rising by a gentle grade through a distance 
of 180 miles to a hight of over 16,000 feet — which 
is again succeeded by a depression eastward of 
4,000 feet, through a distance of 300 miles, the 
soundings giving here a depth of 15,300 feet. This 
last depth is preserved with great uniformity 
through a distance of nearly 400 miles, when the 
foot of the last western slope is reached, which is 
in reality but a continuation of the general western 
slope of the American continent. 

Let us examine briefly and see what are the main 
topographical features to be generalized out of the 
body of crude data here presented. By the revela- 
tions of these surveys we acquire a general knowl- 
edge of an area of the earth's surface hitherto almost 



The Topography of the Pacific. 133 

unknown, and in extent almost equal to the entire 
continent of North America — that is to say, the por- 
tion that lies in the depths of ocean, and comprised 
within 21 degrees of latitude, and almost 100 de- 
grees of longitude. Within this immense basin, 
and in the dark recesses of a watery abyss, revealed 
to man only through the subtle agency of a tiny 
cord, there are contained mountain ranges, hills 
and valleys, in extent, and perhaps grandeur also, 
fully equal to any whose towering peaks pierce the 
blue sky, and whose sunlit summits and gentle 
slopes are kindled into a thousand glories by the 
radiance of the heavens. By a careful examination 
of the data given, it will be observed that there 
are two great mountain chains and valleys between 
the American and Asiatic continents, trending, it 
is fair to presume, in the same general direction as 
those on the continents of North and South Amer- 
ica. 

It will be seen that the points of greatest and 
least depth, both by the Northern and Southern 
lines of survey, have that necessary coincidence 
implied by the theory of this general trend of the 
submarine mountain ranges. The greatest of these 
ranges has a hight, measured along its western 
slope, of over 16,000 feet — somewhat greater than 



134 The Topography of the Pacific. 

that of the Rocky or Sierra Nevada mountains. 
The valleys extending from the East and West 
bases of this range are severally over 400 and 300 
miles in extent. At the distance of 300 miles to 
the west of the mountain range referred to, rises 
another to the hight of over 7,000 feet, which is in 
turn separated from the Asiatic continent by a 
valley of some hundreds of miles in width. A gen- 
eral profile of this region, it will be seen, would 
not be very unlike that given by a continuous ver- 
tical section of the Sierra Nevada and Rocky 
Mountain ranges, together with a portion of the 
eastern slope of the latter chain. We have first 
the valley to the east, corresponding with that of 
the great plains of Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas and 
Nebraska ; and then, also the inter-mountain val- 
ley, an almost exact counterpart in extent and lo- 
cation of the Humboldt valley. The only points 
of material discrepancy are that the oceanic ranges 
are for the eastern chain somewhat higher than the 
Rocky Mountains, and for the western only about 
half the altitude of the Sierras. 

But as we are writing specially of the Sand- 
wich Islands, let us see what bearing this ad- 
dition to our general knowledge of the topography 
of the Pacific has, in so far as relates to the physical 



• w 

^ o 

? c 

-.'-^ 

o rs 



O v," 



— ry PI 




The Topography of the Pacific. 137 

origin and characteristics of these islands. As be- 
fore stated, the soundings at a distance of 43 miles 
from the island of Molokai give a depth of 18,138 
feet. It is undoubtedly competent to assume, in 
view of other disclosures of this survey, that sub- 
stantially the same depth exists at a like distance 
from the shores of the island of Hawaii, since it is 
only about 100 miles distant. 

We think that it may be properly inferable 
also from the general contour of the group of 
islands as shown above the water line, and also 
from their trend as related to the slopes revealed 
by the survey, that this is the uniform depth along 
the entire eastern side of this cluster of islands. 
These islands are themselves, therefore, but the 
mere tops of some of the higher peaks of this im- 
mense chain of submarine mountains, rising, as we 
have seen, from a great level plain at the bottom 
of the ocean, and projecting to various hights above 
its surface. The hight to which these islands rise 
above the water level varies with an increasing 
regularity from Kauai, the northernmost of the 
group, to Hawaii, the most southern, the hight of 
the former being about 2,800, and of the latter over 
14,000 feet. All grades of intermediate hight be- 
tween these extremes are found to succeed in a 

18 



The Topography of the Pacific. 



regular progressive order, as we advance over the 
group from the north to the south. 

These islands are not only a part of a system of 
mountain ranges, submerged in the depths and im- 
mensity of the Pacific Ocean, hut they are more 
— they are undoubtedly the highest range of 
mountains on the globe. When we speak of com- 
parative altitudes, it is not in the geometrical sense 
of the respective distances of their summits from 
the center of the earth, but it is the hight to which 
they rise from the general level upon which their 
bases rest. The Himalaya mountains rise to the 
hight of 29,000 feet above sea level, but it is more 
than 1,000 miles from the summit of these mount- 
ains to the ocean. The Andes rise in some places 
23,000 feet above ocean level ; yet the summit of 
this range is some hundreds of miles remote from 
the sea. The Sierra Nevada mountains in Califor- 
nia reach a maximum hight of 14,000 feet, and the 
distance from the summit to the ocean is over 200 
miles ; and even were we to extend the distance to 
more than 1,000 miles into the Pacific Ocean, 
scarcely 10,000 feet more would be added to their 
hight. As Mauna Loa, on the island of Hawaii, 
rises over 14,000 feet above the water level, and as 
the bed of the ocean, at a distance less than 50 



The Topography of the Pacific. 139 



miles from its shores, lies at a depth of 18,138 feet, 
we have then as a total for this mountain the enor- 
mous hight of over 32,000 feet, or a little more than 
six miles. When we remember that for other 
mountain range? of much less altitude, the distance 
from the base to the summit is often over 1,000 
miles, and rarely less than several hundreds, and 
as the distance from the base of Mauna Loa to its 
summit is less than 100 miles, the abrupt manner 
in which this volcanic cone springs from the bottom 
and out of the ocean becomes forcibly realized. 

The facts here presented, while in themselves a 
source of wonder and conjecture giving scope for 
geographical speculations, provide also the mate- 
rial for geological induction. 

As we are accustomed to view isolated peaks and 
mountain ranges, apart from any accompanying 
idea or conception of the earth as a whole, we mar- 
vel at the wondrous force, that invisible power 
that has heaved up the earth's surface in such great 
billows and folds, that seem to rise to such immense 
hights above us. But when we come to look upon 
them associated with the idea of their relation to 
the magnitude and proportions of the earth in its 
entirety ,these geological billows and waves quickly 
diminish into mere ripples,— the faintest wrinkles 



1^0 The Topography of the Pacific. 

upon the earth's surface. By a study of the nature 
and formation of mountain ranges in general, were 
we to formulate from their varying contour and 
proportions some universal ratio expressing the re- 
lation of hight to basic area, necessitated by the 
laws and conditions out of which they have risen, 
we would be greatly surprised at the very exagger- 
ated notions we often form, respecting not only 
the real but possible extent to which the upheaval 
of the earth's crust could be carried. We would 
learn that it is not, as we carelessly think it to be, 
indefinite., but as all things else, confined rigidly by 
nature's laws within fixed and determinate limits. 
Were such a ratio deduced, it is quite certain that 
it would fall short of expressing that truly phe- 
nomenal relation of hight and breadth of base, 
already pointed out as forming so exceptional a 
feature in the physical structure of the Sandwich 
Islands. 

This ratio would most probably give for these 
islands a hight of little more than one third of that 
which we in fact find to exist. The upheaval of the 
earth's crust by the same and really efficient cause 
which has produced mountain ranges through- 
out the globe, would by this ideal proportion give 
for this oceanic range a hight of only about 13,000 



The Topography of the Pacific. 1J/.1 

feet. As no greater hight in comparison with the 
breadth of base can be shown to exist in any other 
mountain range, it is fair to presume that when the 
surface of the earth in the locality of these islands 
had reached the altitude named, it had reached the 
extreme limit of angular inclination which was 
possible to arise out of the physical conditions and 
causes upon which the lifting up of the earth's 
crust depends. Taking then the breadth of base 
and adopting as a standard of comparison the 
steepest general inclination shown by any range 
of mountains the upheaval of which is the direct 
result of plication of the earth's strata solely, the 
hight assumed would be rather above than below 
the true one. If, then, to the primary cause upon 
which all those undulations of surface constituting 
mountain ranges depends, only a little over one- 
third their present hight can be possibly attributed, 
whence must we look for that supplementary agen- 
cy by which the additional hight of these mount- 
ains has been built up ? We have stated that an 
elevation of 13,000 feet only was consistent with 
and possible under the conditions to which upheav- 
als in general, covering large areas, are due. This 
corresponds very closely with the depth found ac- 
tually to exist by the first soundings from the shore 



lJl.2 The Topography of the Pacific. 



of Molokai. A sort of terrace, beginning at a dis- 
tance of 24 miles and extending some 15 miles, was 
found on the submerged eastern slope of this 
island. It seems, therefore, a reasonable hypothe- 
sis that the bottom indicated by the first sounding 
was the snmmit of the true mountain range — forced 
upward by the same contractile force of the earth's 
crust, and which is the real origin of all elevated 
areas — which forms a superstructure upon which, 
through the agency of volcanic action, the remain- 
ing and projecting portions of these islands were 
built up, successively increasing in hight with 
every overflow of molten lava, as it continued 
through long and countless eons of time. 



The Islands and their Inhabitants. 14^ 



CHAPTER X. 
The Islands and their Inhabitants. 

To those bold navigators and explorers, the Span- 
iards, whose thirst for wealth and adventure has 
given the world so many brilliant discoveries, must 
undoubtedly be accorded the honor of the first dis- 
covery of the Hawaiian Islands ; yet it must be ad- 
mitted that they stand in relation to a real, 
authentic discovery of these islands, much the 
same as the bold, hardy Northmen do to that dis- 
covery which has immortalized the humble savant 
and navigator of Genoa. 

It is, I believe, a matter of historical record — 
though probably filtered to a great extent through 
the vague, uncertain medium of tradition that be- 
clouds the early days and history of all countries — 
that about the year 1525 there were cast upon the 
shores of Hawaii several Spanish vessels. They 
are supposed to have been on a voyage from the 
coast of Mexico, but whether on one of those aim- 
less, wandering voyages of a predatory nature so 



144 The Islands and their Inhabitants. 



characteristic of this bold, rash people, or whether 
they were ill-fated vessels that had lost their reck- 
oning and drifted from the route taken by the 
Spanish galleons in their traffic between Mexico 
and the Manilla Islands which was common in the 
latter half of the sixteenth century, there is no 
means of determining. Perhaps all that can be 
received as trustworthy is the general fact of such 
a disaster having occurred near the time mentioned. 

It can however be claimed as beyond doubt that 
in the early part of the seventeenth century, these 
islands were frequently sighted by Spanish traders, 
en route for the Manillas, as their charts of the Pa- 
cific Ocean of this period located with some degree 
of accuracy the position of these islands. Still 
later, in the year 1740, there was landed upon the 
island of Oahu a crew of white men, belonging 
either to the Spanish or Portuguese nations. From 
these men the natives procured many utensils and 
implements of iron, by which they acquired some 
familiarity with the uses of this metal. It is rea- 
sonable to infer that to this incident is due in a 
great measure that knowledge of iron and its uses 
which Capt. Cook found to exist among the natives 
upon his first visit to these islands. 

As Capt. Cook, however, was the first to furnish 



The Islands and their Inhabitants. 145 

to the world an accurate, authentic account of 
these islands, and as his search was prosecuted in 
a systematic, scientific manner, it should not de- 
tract from the merit and honor of his discovery as 
a genuine and original one, even though it be true, 
as it doubtless is, that he had a prior knowledge 
of, and was familiar with, the rude, imperfect charts 
of the Spaniards, in which these islands were laid 
down with some degree of precision nearly a cen- 
tury before the date of his discovery. Who would 
hold the claims and honors of Columbus as less 
valid, even though in Icelandic annals the histori- 
an of the tenth century were to trace the adventur- 
ous Lief, son of Eric, in his uncertain wanderings 
to the coast of Vinland 'i 

How these islands, isolated as they are, being 
nowhere within 2,000 miles of any habitable land, 
should have become inhabited, is a problem which 
has long engaged the attention of ethnologists — 
one which has baffled their researches, and yet re- 
mains unanswered, for want of a satisfactory solu- 
tion. From the structural similarity of the many 
languages and dialects spoken throughout the 
widely diflused groups in the Pacific, differing only 
to that extent and degree which may be accounted 
for on the grounds of variation in climate, soil, and 

19 



146 The Islands and their Inhabitants. 



general physical conditions, in respect of which 
there is among these islands a wide divergence, it 
is reasonable, it seems, to infer that the Hawaiians 
are but the oflfshoot of that same great division of 
the human family to which the Fijians, Tahitians, 
8amoans, New Zealanders, and the inhabitants of 
the South Sea groups in general, trace their origin. 
Whether this be the Chinese, Japanese, Malay or 
some other of the Continental races, matters not, 
as it is not their remote origin in which we are 
concerned, so much as the probable manner and 
order of their diffusion throughout the Pacific. 

Although the various groups of islands in the 
Pacific Ocean are removed at immense distances 
from each other, yet it is well authenticated that 
in earlier times there has been intercourse to some 
degree among the islands. In view of the frail, un- 
seaworthy character of the canoes in which the na- 
tives in our own times make their excursions among 
the islands of the various groups, together witL 
their crude and primitive system of navigation, it 
seems incredible that a voyage of several thousand 
miles should be ventured upon by them, or should 
prove successful if attempted. But it is said that 
their boats in earlier times were of better construc- 
tion, and much more suited to resist the hazards of 



The Islands and their Inhabitant s. 14~ 

a long sea voyage. When we remember, also, that 
all these islanders are almost semi-aquat ic in their 
nature and habits, performing feats of endurance 
and bikill in the watery element at which a lands- 
man would marvel, and look upon them with 
horror, it would seem not impossible that more by 
accident than design, an occasional successful voy- 
age of this kind would be accomplished. The}' 
were no doubt — as is still the case among the more 
primitive and barbarous of these islands — induced 
to make these perilous excursions from motives of 
conquest and plunder, and perhaps also frequently 
from pangs of hunger, which even to this day gives 
rise to many expeditions in quest of food. 

This general resemblance of the languages spo- 
ken throughout the Pacific is often remarked by 
the most casual observer. The Fiji Islands lie over 
2,000 miles to the south of the Hawaiian Islands, 
yet the features in common existing between the 
two languages are many and quite apparent. 
Meeting a native recently from the Fiji Islands, 
who was of unusual intelligence and had a limited 
command of English, I gathered from him many 
things that were curious, touching this linguistic 
resemblance. I venture to give one, for the spe- 
cial reason of its double significance. In compar- 



IJfS The Islands and their Inhabitants. 



ing the terms used respectively in the Hawaiian 
and Fiji tongues to represent the several numerals, 
I found that there were two pronounced alike, and 
which, as a further coincidence, stood for the same 
values,. viz.: Alua (three) and Alima (five). Now 
it so happens that both in the Hawaiian and Fijian 
languages, the latter term (Alima) is synonymous 
with that employed .to designate the hand. The 
significance of this is apparent, indicating not only 
an allied structure of the two languages, but alFord- 
ing also a clue to the manner in which their nu- 
merical systems originated. In the incapacity of 
uncivilized races to form abstract conceptions, they 
naturally resort to the aid of concrete symbols; 
hence in their eflbrts at notation, the hand provides 
a ready and available record of numbers. What- 
ever may have been the origin of the terms used 
to express other numerals, it is quite probable, 
from the identity pointed out, that the open or full 
hand, with its five units, must have given rise to 
the name of that numeral, of which in practice it 
no doubt stood as a material symbol, representing 
that which to the sterile, untutored mind of a sav- 
age would otherwise have been an impossible 
ideality. 
It is therefore to the close resemblance of 



The Islands and their Inhabitants. 14-9 

tongues, rather than to the confused mysticism of a 
mass of oral tradition relating to the early history 
of these islands, that we must look for the only sat- 
isfactory and reliable evidence by which a solution 
of the question of their origin can be reached. 
Were this line of comparative philology exhaust- 
ively continued, it would no doubt develop the 
fact that this great wave of hunaanity that has 
spread throughout the length and breadth of the 
Pacific had its origin in the remote regions of the 
East India Archipelago, or the eastern confines of 
Asia. 

The total population of the Sandwich Islands was 
in 1873 somewhat less than 50,000. As Capt. Cook 
estimated, somewhat liberally no doubt, the num- 
ber of inhabitants to be over 400,000 in 1779, some 
idea may be formed of the frightful decrease that 
has occurred among the natives in less than a cen- 
tury. Nor does this ratio of decrease in native 
population seem to diminish. There seems to be a 
stead}'- and rapid decadence, which will in a gener- 
ation or so work the final and complete extinction 
of this race. 

This rapid decline in population will be realized 
in a more forcible manner by a glance at the vital 
statistics as shown in the census tables from 1832 



150 The Islands and their Inhabitants. 

to 1866. By the^first official census, taken in 1832, 
the population had become reduced from the esti- 
mated number of Oapt. Cook to 130,315. In 1836 
it was laid down at 106,519, or a reduction of nearly 
24,000 in the space of four years — an average an 
nual loss of nearly six per cent. During the next 
14 years the population sull'ered a further decline 
of only about 3 per cent, per annum, leaving for 
the census for the year 1850 a total of 84,100 inhab- 
itants, of whom nearly 2,000 were foreigners. 
Within the next three years the loss was almost 
12,000, leaving in 1853 a residue of 70,000 natives, 
a decrease of nearly 6 per cent, per annum. 

The total population shown by the census of 1866 
was 62,800, of which number more than 4,000 were 
foreigners. As the number of natives was esti- 
mated by the missionaries in 1823 to be 142,600, it 
will be seen that in the space of 43 years the re- 
duction of native inhabitants amounted to some 
84,000, or more than one-half the total population 
at the time of the appearance of the missionaries 
upon the islands. This decadence, though extreme- 
ly rapid and preserving throughout this term of 
years seemingly a constant ratio, has liowever been 
checked to some degree, and for other reasons, 
rendering the ratio in a measure fictitious. 



The Islands and their Inhabitants. 151 

There is now in Hawaiian veins a larg:e infusion 
of foreign blood. To so great an extent has this 
admixture gone that upon the older settled islands, 
except in the more remote districts, it is almost 
rare to find a native who does not exhibit by a 
well cut nose, a complexion toned down a shade or 
two, or a straightening tendency of hair, this amal- 
gamation to a greater or less degree. As bearing 
upon the question of decline in population, this fact 
has a two-fold effect. In the first place, among the 
number classed in the census tables as natives, 
perhaps not over two-thirds are of pure, unmixed 
Hawaiian descent. In computing the ratio of de- 
crease, it is evident that only that number com- 
prising those of pure Hawaiian blood should be 
taken as the basis. Should this be done, the pro- 
portion of annual deaths would prove to be much 
larger than that given in the census. 

As this dilution of native blood is increasing 
year by year in an inverse ratio, there occurs as a 
consequence each year a wider divergence from 
the real facts touching the proportion oi' decrease 
in the pure native population, as disclosed by the 
census tables. 

As a second result to be considered, it must be 
borne in mind that this cross between the native 



162 The Islands and their Inhabitants. 



and foreign races has a tendency not only to add 
vitality to the resultant race, but also to produce 
a physical and mental organization in closer unison 
with the new conditions brought about by the in- 
troduction of the forms and usages of civilization. 
Were we therefore to confine all statistical com- 
Ijarisons to the pure native population only, that 
apparently constant ratio of decrease found to ex- 
ist when contrasting the number of deaths with 
the whole population, mixed and unmixed, will be 
found a fictitious ratio, and much below the real 
one. Such an inquiry would no doubt show a 
steady and rapidly increasing ratio for the last 50 
years. 

Among the curious facts developed by the last 
' census, and one of great significance, bearing as it 
does upon the important question of the reproduct- 
ive power of the nation, is that the decrease in the 
female population is out of all proportion in excess 
of that of the male, lii .18G0, the total number of 
males in the islands was 35,379, and in 1866 it was 
found to be 34,395, a reduction of 984 during that 
interval. In 1860 there were over 31,700 females, 
which had "become reduced to 28,564 in 1866, or a de- 
crease of over 3,100 within the same lapse of time. 

The causes which operate to produce this dispar- 



TJve Islands and their Inhabitants. 15S 

ity of result are probably many. I was however 
assured by the Governor of Maui — an intelligent 
native — that it was mainly due to the breaking 
down — through the agency of civilization — of an 
ancient " Tabu " which this people sacredly en- 
forced, and which was admirably suited in its reg- 
ulative and restraining influence to the organiza- 
tion and sanitary needs peculiar to the sex. 

I cannot now speak of other specific causes that 
have been and are now in operation to produce the 
general result alluded to. I can only say that so 
far as my observation now goes, it is the effect of 
a general cause, to be found in the violation of one 
of nature's most inexorable laws — " conformity and 
harmony." 

As the early philosophers used to say of a vacu- 
um, that nature abhorred it, so it may now be said 
that nature abhors sudden transitions. Whatever 
may have been the immediate agencies by which 
this unprecedented mortality has been brought 
about, I feel justified in saying that the most gen- 
eral cause to which this result may be attributed 
is the too rapid civilization of the people. History 
does not perhaps furnish another instance where a 
race of people have as a mass been raised from a 
state of complete barbarism to an apparently high 

so 



154 T^ Islands and their Inhabitants. 



civilization in the short space of 40 years. With 
all due admiration for the heroic self-denial and 
devotion with which the missionaries have urged 
on the work here, and a firm conviction of their 
purity of motive and honesty of purpose, I am yet 
convinced that the great error committed by them 
was in doing their work too well. 

They have no doubt effected the complete and 
thorough evangelization of the island. Yet it is a 
fact patent to all, that concurrent with this result 
there has also, in some manner, been sown the 
seeds of destruction, which will, ere long, number 
the noble race of Hawaiians with the extinct 
tribes. Had I the time I could point out many 
customs and habits which, when forming a co-ordi- 
nate part of a long existing civilization, are salu- 
tary in their infiuence, but are here silently and 
swiftly sapping the vitality of this people, who 
have clothed themselves in the outward garb of 
civilization while yet retaining, both in body and 
mind, the elements of a barbarous ancestry. If 
the progress of enlightenment had been less bril- 
liant and rapid here, I should have greater hopes 
of the future of this people. 




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Honolulu and its Environs. 157 



CHAPTER XI. 
HoNOLliLr AND ITS ENVIRONS. 

Honolulu, the capital of the Hawaiian Islands, is 
located on the southern shore of the island of 
Oahu. It is in the midst of a beautiful, level val- 
ley, six miles long and four broad, around which a 
picturesque range of mountains curves in a regu- 
lar semi-circle. It has about the only available 
harbor in the islands, and is of fair size, being 
reached through a narrow channel formed in the 
coral reef that surrounds all of these islands. It is 
irregularly laid out and has fine, clean streets, 
paved with blocks of coral and broken lava ; and as 
there are few vehicles used here, they remain 
beautifully smooth and level and almost free from 
dust. 

There are a few substantial business houses, built 
mainly out of hewn blocks of coral and sometimes 
of brick. The residences as a general thing are 
one story buildings, plain in style. Take it all in 



158 Honolulu and its Environs. 



all, it is the most attractive city I ever saw. It is, 
in fact, an immense conpervatory. Flowers, rare 
plants and ornamental trees are found in the great- 
est abundance in the yards, public places — every- 
where. The city is well watered by a stream of 
cool, fresh water which descends from one of the 
canyons back of the city, and several miles distant. 
There are about 10,000 inhabitants, of whom per- 
haps one-fourth are whites, mostly Americans, who 
entertain strangers with a cordial hospitality. 

There are many objects of interest in the imme- 
diate vicinity of the city, enough to beguile away 
months. One of the most beautiful in the way of 
landscapes is the"Palli" — native for precipice — 
some six miles from the city. It is reached by n 
gradual ascent for the most part on the rugged, 
irregular bed of an old extinct crater; now thickly 
overgrown with trees and grass. At a height of 
1,200 feet, the road suddenly terminates, and you 
are on the brink of a perpendicular wall of lava 
full fiOO feet high, stretching away in a semi-circu- 
lar sweep until it touches the ocean on either hand, 
enclosing a crescent-shaped plain into which you 
look as into a vast amphitheater. 

The view so suddenly disclosed is one of infinite 
beauty and grandeur. To my mind there cannot 



Honolulu and its Environs. 161 

be combined in a more attractive manner all the 
elements to constitute a complete picture. At 
your feet is the rugged wall of lava, pinnacled by 
jutting spires that look like grim sentinels; far in 
the distance is a long line of white foamy surf that 
marks the path of the ocean swell as it breaks 
over the reefs of coral ; clouds of every form and 
hue spanned by the bright bow of a passing 
shower, rich, velvety leaves, gently rolling hills, 
clumps of palm trees, and the faint outlines of a 
distant village nestled among tropical trees, and 
everything that could enrapture the soul of an 
artist. How I wished for the gift of a Franken- 
stein, that I might put on canvas tlie matchless 
glories of this enchanted valley ! 

The soil of these islands is a marvel of fertility, 
and is merely disintegrated lava that has accumu- 
lated in different localities from 1 to 20 feet in 
depth. There is perhaps no other country in the 
world where there is to be found so much that is 
varied in climate, soil, vegetable production, et 
cetera. They are a complete world in themselves. 
There is no gradation of temperature but can be 
found here, from perpetual ice and snow down to 
an unvarying tropical heat. As the soil contains 
almost every constituent necessary to vegetable 

21 



162 Honolulu and iff! Environs. 



growth, as a consequence of the extreme diversity 
of physical conditions, a profusion and variety in 
the vegetable world is to be met with that is be- 
wildering. 

The climate is just as one will have it, as there 
can be found somewhere in the islands a climate 
that would suit the native of any zone, from a Lap- 
lander to an Ashantee. If the temperature and 
humidity of the air be not such as suits one in the 
valley, you can move up a mountain a mile or so, 
until you find, if you desire it, perpetual spring, 
perpetual summer, perpetual winter, perpetual 
drought, or, if preferred, perpetual rain. To one 
accustomed to the variable and treacherous cli- 
mate of Ohio, there is something indescribably fine 
in the constancy of the weather, in whatever sec- 
tion you choose to locate. Here one rises in the 
morning without ever giving thought as to what 
kind of weather the day will bring forth, feeling- 
certain that it will be a repetition of the same sun- 
shine, the same gentle showers and balmy breezes 
that have prevailed for months. 

The following table of temperatures will more 
clearly show the average and extreme range of 
thermometer, in the city of Honolulu, comprising 
a record for eight months. Il may be added 



TTonolulu (lud its Environs. 163 

that (luring the remaining months of the year, the 
thermometer scarcely ever indicates a higher tem- 
perature than IX) degrees, and the extreme daily 
variation in temperature very rarely reaches a 
higher average than 12 to 15 degrees. 
Extreme Ran(^e. — In October, 72 to 8f) degrees. 
" November, <>(i to 8f) " 
'• December, 70 to So '"'• 
" January, fiO to 85 '' 
'• February, 02 to 82 " 
" March, H5 to 84 

" April, f)2 to 84 " 

" May, 70 to 87 " 

AvERAOK IvAXGE. — In October. 75 to 84 " 
" November. 73 to 84 " 
'' December, 72 to 82 '' 
" January, HC to 82 " 
" February, (Jb to 80 ^' 
'• March. 7(» to 82 

" April, 70 to 82 " 

" May, 74 to 84 " 

Although there are in the seasons of the islands 
periods that might be termed wet and dry, yet they 
have not that well-marked periodicity which char- 
acterizes climatic changes in America. 
The rain-fall varies exceedingly, even between 



164 Honolulu and its Environs. 



localities on the same island, and in a more marked 
manner between the various islands. Near the 
sea-shore, on the leeward side of the island, as at 
Waikiki,the annual rain fall scarcely ever reaches 
87 inches, while at a distance of less than a mile 
and a half further inland, the amount sometimes 
exceeds four feet; and still further up the valleys, 
say four or live miles, where the cooler tempera- 
ture and the moisture-laden trade breezes combine 
to produce an almost continuous succession of 
showers, the rain-fall sometimes amounts to more 
than 100 inches annually. 

The causes tending to modify the climate here, 
unlike that of our country, are few and uncompli- 
cated. Hence the simple character of meteoro- 
logical phenomena. There is but one prevailing- 
wind here, blowing invariably ^rom the same quar- 
ter — ^the trades — so that all of variation in Hawaiian 
climatology is mainly due to the slight modilica- 
tion of temperature incident to the change of sea- 
son. This is so slight as to have scarce an appre- 
ciable effect. I believe there is no country ecjual 
to these islands in the combination of favorable 
conditions for the extreme development of vegeta- 
tion — plenty of sunshine, regular showers, and soil 
of exceptional fertility. It is no won4er, therefore, 



ifllM 











GIANT OR PULU FERN. 



Honolulu and its Environs. l(u 



that we tind here that the whole scale of nature 
has taken a leap forward, so that lichens become 
mosses, mosses become ferns, and ferns become 
trees. 

Speaking of ferns, this is truly the home of the 
fern, and any one wlio can see the acres of exquisite 
ferns without contracting the fern fever has no eye 
for beauty. There are on these islands several 
hundred varieties, many of which are of surpassing 
beauty, rivaling in delicacy of texture the Inost 
dainty patterns of lace. The size to which some 
of these ferns grow is truly wonderful ; to use a 
" Taddyism," it is almost risking one's veracity to 
tell the truth about them. The " Fulu '' fern, 
which is found mainly on the island of Hawaii, 
grows to the extraordinary height of 30 to 40 feet. 
It sends up a main trunk and in general appear- 
ance is not unlike the palm. 

It is from this fern that the beautiful soft, silky 
substance is procured, which forms to some extent 
an article of commerce. It is found in closely 
compressed clumps or masses within the space 
formed by the junction of the main fronds with the 
trunk of the fern. A quantity varying from \ to 4 
pounds, according to size of plant, is taken from a 
single fern. It is much used in the islands for bed- 



16 S Honolulu and its Envirojis. 

ding and general upholstery, and is exported quite 
largely for the same purpose. 

I have myself seen the body of this fern over 
two feet in diameter, and I am assured that they 
sometimes attain to even (> feet in diameter. It is 
no unusual thing to see leaves of this variety full 
20 feet long and to 10 feet broad. 

Among the more remarkable vegetable produc- 
tions, the Taro must take rank as of first imjiort- 
ance, by reason of its economic value. What rice 
is to the Chinese and the East Indians, wheat aud 
corn to the American and European, and potatoes 
to the Irish, the Taro is to the Hawaiian. It is pre- 
eminently the national food, and no doubt to this 
esculent must be attributed the rise and growth 
of the exceptionally dense population found to ex- 
ist in the lirst discovery of the islands. 

As the area of the islands is G,000 square miles, 
and as the population at the time of discovery was 
about -100,000, this will give, as an average for the 
whole group, nearly 70 persons to the square mile, 
— a remarkably dense population, having over 
three times the average density of the j^opulation 
of our own country. As the extent to which the 
earth is capable of sustaining a population is lim- 
ited only by the jjerfection of the arts and sciences 




THE TARO PLANT. 



S3 



Honolulu wthcl its Environs. 171 



which are brought to bear upon agriculture, it fol- 
lows that the more nearly a race approximates to 
a state of savagery, so in direct correspondence 
does their means of subsistence become more re- 
stricted and precarious. 

As the culture of almost all vegetables used as 
an article of food presui^poses some degree of ag- 
ricultural knowledge and skill, it becomes apparent 
that the more barbarous and primitive the condi- 
tion of a people, the more they become dependent 
upon the uncertainties of the chase as a means of 
subsistence. It is due to this fact that countries 
inhabited by savage tribes have uniforml}'^ a very 
sparse population as compared with civilized coun- 
tries, as the increase of the population of a country 
is in perfect unison with the facility with which 
food can be procured. 

Now as there is no good reason to believe that 
the ancestral Hawaiian was of a less nomadic na- 
ture, or possessed of greater habits of industry 
than his average savage brother, the world through- 
out, we are led to suspect that the advantages 
which gave rise to such unusually large increase in 
population were to be found in the readiness with 
which some natural production yielded to him an 
abundant, certain and easy support. This in real- 



172 Honolulu and its Environs. 

ity is found to be the case, for I am sure that no 
vegetable in the world can be made to yield so 
large a quantity of nutritious substance for the 
same expenditure of labor as the Taro. 

80 easy of culture, so productive is it, that I be- 
lieve the labor of one-half hour in the day would be 
sufficient to supply enough of it to sustain the life 
of an average man. The plant belongs to the 
Aiirum family, which iucludes the Indian turnip, 
calla tfec, to which latter the leaf of tlie taro bears 
a very close resemblance. The root varies from 1 
to 8 j)Ounds weight. Formerly it was grown entire- 
ly in low tracts whi(^h were inundated at regular 
intervals; but it is now often grown in upland 
places, e<iual in (|uali1y and little less in ([uantity. 
The necessities of its culture gave rise in early 
times to a very extensive system of water-wa^^s 
and irrigation, the ruins of which magnificent spec- 
imens of savage engineering are yet to be met 
with all over the islands. 

The root is of the most nutritious character, con- 
taining an unusually large proportion of starch. 
The natives, in preparing it as an article of food, 
first excavate a hole in the ground, which they fill 
with stones. A tire is then built upon these stones, 
until sufficiently heated, when all but a single 




BEATING POI. 



Honohilii and its Environs. 17 



layer at the bottom is removed. The broad, smooth 
leaf of the Ke plant is then spread over the bottom, 
upon which is placed a proper ({iiantity of the 
roots. This is covered with anotlier layer of leaves, 
when the whole is completely covered with heated 
stones. By this means the roots soon become thor- 
oughly cooked. 

I ought here to add that this is the sj^stem of 
cooking throughout the islands, and is the manner 
in which their daint\' dishes — notably roast dog 
and pig — are prepared. 

After the taro has been sufficiently baked, it is 
beaten in a rude mortar, or shallow wooden dish, by 
a stone pestle, into a thick dough. This is after- 
ward mixed with water iji sufficient quantity to 
form a semi-licjuid paste, which is set aside to un- 
dergo partial fermentation. In a day or so it 
acquires a slight acid taste, somewhat resembling 
yeast. It is now ready for use, and is called by the 
natives "Poi," refjuiring no further preparation to 
be eaten. 

Although the root itself is white, it acquires, 
when mixed with water, a slight bluish tint, which 
is doubtless owing to the traces of iodine contained 
in the water, which acts chemically upon the 
starchy substance of the root. It is not acceptable 



176 Honoliilu and its Environs. 



at first to an American palate, but by use a fond- 
ness is quickly acquired for it. 

The manner in which the natives eat this food is 
at once uni(|ue and diverting to a foreigner. Sur- 
rounding a calabash in which it is contained, each 
one in turn inserts his linger into the mass, to 
which adheres a good sized lump, which with a 
dextrous jerk is whipped into the month and oil' 
the finger. There is generally, also, to make the 
repast complete, a dish containing a few raw fish, 
which they eat as a sort of relish, each one in turn 
tearing off a morsel of this dainty substance, which 
is not calculated to provoke an appetite in an 
American, either by its looks, taste or smell, yet 
doubtless to the practiced palate of a Hawaiian is 
deliciousness itself. 

The Taro root resembles very closely that veg- 
etable popularly called in our country "Indian 
turnip,'' and produces while raw the same burning, 
pungent effect upon the tongue when eaten, but 
entirely loses this property when heated. 

In view of the ease with which it can be cultiva- 
ted and its immense yield per acre, together with 
its remarkable nutritious tjualities, as well as the 
peculiar properties that render it specially whole- 
some in warm climates, it would certainly become, 




EATING POI. 



Honolulu and its Environs. 179 

if introduced into this country, the most valuable 
addition yet made to our esculents, as it would 
without doubt furnish an abundant and cheap food 
for the colored population in the South. There are, 
I am sure, large districts in Florida, Georgia, Ala- 
bama, Louisiana and Texas, where it could be cul- 
tivated with ease and certainty. 

At Waikiki, some three miles from the city, is a 
very pleasant bathing place. It was the sea side 
resort of "Kamehameha Fifth." As this royal 
Kanaka kicked the beam at something over 400 
pounds, it became a matter of much concern as to 
how all this royal substance could be transported 
with the least discomfort to his ponderous majesty. 
To this circumstance the tourist is indebted for the 
privilege of reaching Waikiki by a pleasant drive 
over one of the finest roads I ever met with. It 
ought to be good, for it is about the only road in 
the entire kingdom. Inter-transportation is effected 
in all the islands by ponies and donkeys. The surf 
here is fine and as the water is deliciously warm, 
bathing becomes here a luxury indeed. I saw at 
this place for the first time, that famous sport of 
the natives, " surf bathing." As the Pacific Ocean 
has here an uninterrupted sweep from the south of 
several thousand miles, the swells roll in with pro- 



180 Honolulu and its Environs. 

digious force, dashing the water into immense 
snowy fleeces. The native takes a small plank a 
foot wide and a few feet long, and by adroitly 
diving under the approaching waves, at length 
works his way far out to sea. Watching his oppor- 
tunity on the approach of an unusually heavy surf, 
he dextrously flings himself into it a little forward 
of the crest, slightly inclines the board to receive 
the forward impulse of the water,and with the speed 
of the wind rushes toward the shore, enveloped in 
a fleecy foam and spray. I did not try my hand at 
it, as 1 learned that to succeed required long years 
of practice, and it is rare to find, even among the 
resident whites, one who is equal to the feat. It 
is the most exciting sport I ever witnessed. 

In the distance, projecting its clear, well cut, 
serrated edge against the blue sky, rises an isolated 
peak called Diamond Point. It is a long since ex- 
tinct volcano, about one thousand feet in hight, 
having in its summit what is said to be the most 
symmetrical crater in the islands, forming a regu- 
lar, almost circular cavity, like a huge punch-bowl. 

I had while at Waikiki an opportunity of more 
carefully inspecting the canoes of the natives, 
which I had so often seen at a distance, dancing 
with their sable crews like mere dark specks on 



Honolulu and its Environs. 183 

the snowy crest of the waves. They are constructed 
mostly out of a very firm hard wood called '* Koa," 
and sometimes of a wood closely resembling it, 
called the " Kou." They are of extreme length as 
compared with the width, so narrow in fact that a 
man of good proportions would have to limit him- 
self to a very frugal dinner if he preferred to sit 
down, rather than be compelled to stand up like a 
" Colossus of Khodes " in one of them. 

They would be no doubt completely unmanage- 
able, were it not for a device employed on all the 
canoes of the South Seas, which is called an out- 
rigger. Springing from one side of the boat are 
two long curved pieces of wood, one end being 
lashed to the canoe by a kind of cordage made from 
the fibres of the Lauhalla, and the other just dipping 
beneath the surface of the water. Connecting 
these two pieces at their ends, and lashed in a sim- 
ilar way is a piece of very light, porous wood 
called " will will," which floats upon the surface of 
the water at a distance of about ten feet from the 
side of the boat, adding greatly to its stability. 

Even with this addition, it is yet unfit to be used 
for purposes of navigation by any less skillful 
gymnast than a Blondin, for I am certain an ordi- 
nary man would feel quite as safe and comforta- 



184 Honolulu and its Environs. 

ble, and would have no greater difficulty in pre- 
serving his balance, were he to attempt to navigate 
the Atlantic in a butter-bowl. Yet the bold man- 
ner in which the natives plunge out into the 
roughest seas, and the skill with which they man- 
age these light, treacherous craft, even in a raging 
surf, is a marvel to behold. 

In fitting out a fleet for warlike purposes, it was 
once their custom, in former times, to lash quite a 
number of these canoes together, side by side, ren- 
dering outriggers unnecessary, and thus forming a 
kind of compound boat, of considerable capacity 
and quite serviceable. It is said that Kamehameha 
1st made his tour of conquest among these 
islands in boats constructed in the manner de- 
scribed. 

The Legislature being in session, we dropped in 
to take a look at the sable law makers of Hawaii. 
Heretofore there has been a goodly sprinkling of 
whites in the Legislature, but from a growing feel- 
ing of distrust on the part of the natives, the last 
election returned natives almost exclusively, there 
being, I believe, only two exceptions. I was much 
pleased with the appearance of the members, it 
being physically the finest body of men I ever 
looked upon. They have a cultivated, intellectual 




SURF-BATHING. 



24 



Honolulu and its Environs. 187 

appearance and almost without exception well 
formed heads. As the discussions were carried on 
in the native tongue we could learn but little of 
the nature of the business pending. Things are 
not altogether lovely here, and the wheels of 
government are grinding. There is, in short, a 
tempest in the political teapot, for, be it under- 
stood, political intrigue here, as in more civilized 
communities, is insidiously fomenting discord and 
trouble in the body politic. It is the same old sto- 
ry, a strife between the ins and the outs. 

All the salaries are regally munificent, and 
therefore there is much contention for high places ; 
and as at each succession a new deal takes place, it 
can readily be seen how easily trouble and disor- 
der may arise. This is especially true when in 
each contending faction there is a nucleus of un- 
godly, unprincipled adventurers as the chief wire- 
pullers. Upon the death of the late king Lunalilo, 
the adherents of Queen Emma sought to place her 
on the throne, and those who espoused the cause 
of the so-called rightful claimant as stoutly re- 
sisted. A first-class row ensued, in which the pal- 
ace and halls of legislation were badly damaged, 
and was only prevented from assuming a danger- 
ous form by the timely interference of an Ameri- 



188 Honolulu and its Environs. 



can and English man-of-war. Kalakaua, the pres- 
ent king, IS said to be much prejudiced against the 
whites — for what special reason I know not — and 
his whole policy is such as to favor the natives. 
From what little I have observed of the officious in- 
termeddling by the whites in Hawaiian affairs, and 
the many abuses practiced, I do not wonder that 
the natives have at last, though tardily, come to 
realize the scheme of plunder and extortion of 
which they are the victims, and that they have 
become suspicious, even to an unjust degree, of 
the Anglo-Saxon. 



A Trip to Maui. 189 



CHAPTER XII. 
A Trip to Maui. 

We had been preparing for some days for a tour 
of the islands of East and West Maui, on which the 
great crater of Haleakala (house of the sun) the 
largest crater in the world, is located. As the re- 
maining tour of the islands can be made only on 
horse-back, we took the precaution to invest in 
three good saddles at Honolulu, as we were told 
that it was difficult to get them on the other 
islands. We also secured the services of an intel- 
ligent native — "Antonie" — who accompanied us 
on the remainder of our tour through the islands. 

There is a small steamer of 300 tons that usually 
plies among the islands, but unfortunately for us 
it was just now undergoing complete repairs, and 
would not be in a condition to sail for some weeks. 
As we had not the time to spare, we were com- 
pelled, much against our wishes, to make the trip 
in an old dirty Kanaka-manned schooner that is 
used to carry freight from Maui to Honolulu. On 



190 



A Trip to Maui. 



inquiry as to how long it would take us to reach 
Lahaina in this craft, we were ansvf ered that it de- 
pended upon circumstances whether we reached 
there in 30 hours or a week. Altogether a ques- 
tion of wind. 
After taking a careful look at it, I became con- 




OUR TRAVELING COMPANIONS. 

vinced that it was a matter of divine intervention, 
also, whether we reached Maui at all or not in it. 
However, as it was the best we could do we ship- 
ped in the crazy craft. As we had on board a 
dozen of sweet-scented Kanakas, a bushel or two 
of cock-roaches, more or less, and as there was 
a vertical sun that blistered the deck, and as we 




THAT SCHOONER. 



A Trip to Maui. 193 



had 80 miles of the roughest waters of the Pacific 
ocean to cross — Oahu channel — it is needless to say 
that we slept soundly, ate our meals regularly and 
were truly happy. 

We had no sooner rounded " Diamond Point" 
than I retired below. I did not go below because 
I preferred it, but because I could not swim very 
well. Our cabin was indeed a commodious affair, 
fully as high as a cigar box, and of such ample 
width that you had to go on deck to turn around. 
Our captain was a true gentleman, and familiar 
with the usages of good society. He recognized 
the importance of rigidly maintaining those fine 
social distinctions necessary to preserve the repu- 
tation of a metropolitan passenger ship. He there- 
fore, with delicate discrimination, resolutely ex- 
cluded the Kanakas from our aristocratic quarters. 

It is well that he did so, as with the fleas, mos- 
quitos, cockroaches, the heat and* the surging of 
the boat, an addition of a few dozen natives might 
have imparted a bouquet to the balmy air that 
would have seriously interfered with our perfect 
happiness. 

A rare old vessel was this schooner. She was 
something like one-fifth as broad as long, and 
about as long as Deffenbach's Fourth of July om- 

25 



194 ^ Trip to Maui. 



nibus. She was none of your boats that sail round 
Robin Hood's barn. Oh no ! She never took the 
trouble to go over a wave. She always went un- 
der it. This must have been interesting to the 
natives on deck, and I am morally certain they 
were surf-bathing half the time. 

She was a nice old sailer. She could sail as well 
on beam's end as with her bow sighting fifty de- 
grees above the southern cross. She could sail 
as well under water as above it, in fact she seemed 
to prefer it. At first I felt alarmed at being sub- 
merged so much. But I soon saw there was no 
real danger and quickly calmed my fears when I 
discovered that she came up regularly every half 
hour or so to blow. 

Circumstances were propitious, and after thirty 
mortal hours of pitching and surging, we at last 
reached Lahaina, to our inexpressible relief — the 
sickest, slimiest", sourest looking trio of pilgrims 
that ever journeyed. As a developer of ocean 
horrors, commend us to a Sandwich Island coaster. 

Maui, the third island in size, has about six hun- 
dred square miles, and is divided by a low, sandy 
plain — once the bottom of the ocean — into East 
and West Maui. On West Maui is the finest range 
of mountains we have yet seen, bisecting the island 



A Trip to Maui. 195 



from east to west, rising to the height of seven 
thousand feet. These islands, as is usual with the 
whole group, rising so abruptly, are scored from 
summit to base with numbers of deep parallel val- 
leys, clothed with the densest verdure, giving them 
at a distance an indescribably beautiful effect. 

In company with the Governor of the island and 
several white gentlemen, we visited the Oloaulu 
valley, some four miles from Lahaina. The trail 
by which we enter the valley for the first mile 
wound along the banks of a beautiful, sparkling 
stream, that came leaping down from the rocky 
fastnesses above, where, in the shadows of eternal 
clouds that envelop the mountain's summit, it has 
its source. A ride of two miles brought us where 
the valley suddenly terminates in a canyon. Our 
route now may be said to literally lie in the bed of 
the stream, as in the distance of one mile and a 
half we crossed it fifty-seven times. For all that is 
wild and terrific, the scenes that constantly un- 
folded as we advanced up this terrible gorge sur- 
passed anything I have ever seen. 

In many places the canyon narrowed down so 
that by extending his arms one could almost touch 
the opposing walls at the same time ; the black, 
rugged walls of lava rising almost perpendicular 



196 A Trip to Mai'd. 

from 3,000 to 4,000 feet, shutting out all but a nar 
row belt of blue sky far above our heads. Sudden- 
ly we would emerge into a small circular space 
covered with a dense grove of Kukui and Ooa 
trees, through the tops of which we could catch 
glimpses of many waterfalls, leaping down from 
heights of 1,000 to 2,000 feet in a long line of sil- 
very spray. Then again we would plunge into the 
prison-like gloom of these eternal rocks. We 
thought we had before perlormed some difficult 
feats of horsemanship, but this for rough riding 
was a little ahead of anything we had dreamed of. 
The steep inclines of bare rock we ascended, the 
piles of boulders over which our horses floundered, 
the yawning chasms along the very verge of which 
we threaded our way, made it altogether a most 
perilous trip. Putnam's feat is commonplace com- 
pared with it. The natives and most of the party 
dismounted and abandoned their horses, but the 
Professor and myself, with perhaps more pluck 
than discretion, stuck to our animals and rode the 
trip throughout. The angles, curves, and perpen- 
diculars we descrioed on this journey I cannot 
give. The Professor has some data, and if he don't 
exhaust his mathematical resources will work 
them up. 




NATIVE GRASS HUT. 



A Trip to Maui. 199 

Two miles and a half from Laihana, near the 
shore, is a large, level, sandy plain, composed of 
drifted coral sand as it has been ground up by the 
action of the waves. Tradition has invested this 
plain with a peculiar interest. It is said to be the 
scene of the final battle between " Kamehameha 
first" the old Hawaiian chief who effected the uni- 
fication of the islands, and the petty chiefs of Maui. 
Many are the blood-curdling stories told of the 
dreadful havoc and carnage, and how the gallant 
sons of Maui were at last overwhelmed, and such 
as were not destroyed on the field of battle were 
crowded into the sea. Much of course is mere tra- 
dition, but if acres of grinning skulls and bones as 
thick as snow-flakes be any evidence, I should 
say that they had more than a mere skirmish here. 

Taking with us a native or two and several bas- 
kets, we set out to explore this Golgotha. It was a 
strange sight to see the white bleached bones 
scattered over many acres so thick that you could 
almost step from one to the other. What a fearful 
sight it must have been when naked barbarians 
with mere clubs and spears of shark's teeth 
slaughtered one another in such prodigious num- 
bers. 

Happily the benign influences of civilization 



200 A Trip to Maui. 

have long since put an end to these dreadful 
scenes, and have, in fact, rendered wars unneces- 
sary. Things are different now. The natives do 
not now cruelly beat one another with clumsy war 
clubs, or rasp the flesh from one another's bones 
with long, hideous serrated pikes, but they are si- 
lently and quietly dropping into their graves by 
thousands from the milder and more refined influ- 
ences of an enlightened morality and — forty rod 
whiskey. 

After throwing the bones of a few dozen chiefs 
about in a confused, irreverent manner, we at 
length secured a specimen remarkable for its per- 
fect state of preservation. We returned to box 
and ship him at once to Honolulu, as the Kanakas, 
having a deep-seated superstition about the dead, 
would certainly destroy the most perfect specimen 
if left long within their reach. It is singular how 
little charm scientific matters have for these fel- 
lows. 

AtLahaina-luna, about one mile back of the city, 
on the slope of a mountain giving a commanding 
view, is one of the oldest schools in the islands. It 
is a select institution, as it is here that Hawaiian 
youths of noble extraction receive their education. 
The school is, as all on the islands are, under the 



A Trip to Maui. 201 



control of the Board of Foreign Missions. 

Further up the mountain slope is a lovely spot — 
Mont Retreat — much frequented by the inhabit- 
ants of the islands, on account of the delicious 
breeze always found there, and the thousand 
charms of its sequestered nooks, groves, ravines, 
and endless quantity and variety of tlowers, ferns 
and mosses. 

In company with a most estimable lady — Mrs. P. 
Norton McKee, whom we shall always remember 
with rare pleasure for her many acts of kindness 
and assiduous endeavors to make our stay at La- 
haina a pleasant one — and a young gentleman, the 
Sheriff of Maui, Mr. W. C. Smith, we spent many 
hours of the most delicious enjoyment in this little 
paradise. 

Its elevation is nearly 3,000 feet above the ocean, 
giving to the south and west a wide range of view. 
The island of Lanai, with its reddish volcanic tint, 
lay before us, and the rich green foliage on the 
island of Molokai was plainly discernible, some 
eight miles to the right of us. This island is said 
to be one of the most beautiful and pleasant of all 
the group, containing a variety of landscape 
scenes, mountain views, beetling cliffs, and water- 
falls, not excelled by any of the other islands. 

26 



202 A Trip to Maui. 

From the impression created by our view from this 
distant and lofty point of observation, we longed 
to get a nearer view of the beauties that lay so 
temptingly before us. 

But this is a forbidden land. A shadow of death 
covers the island. It is not to be understood that 
the gates of the island are literally closed against 
the foreigner, but one is very certain to give it a 
wide berth from choice, when he learns of the 
pestilential horrors that infest this whited sepul- 
chre, this charnel-house, this prison island for the 
loathsome lazars of a leprous nation. 

Among the many destructive agencies which the 
blighting hand of civilization has fixed upon this 
doomed people, perhaps the worst of all is the in- 
troduction into the current of Hawaiian blood of a 
polluting stream of leprosy. This is at once the 
most fatal and loathsome of diseases. So far, med- 
ical science and skill have been alike powerless 
either to arrest its growth or effect a single cure. 
It is not however regarded now, as formerly, of a 
highly contagious nature, but on the contrary it is 
believed that its propagation is effected by little 
short of absolute inoculation only. 

The first evidence of the disease is local insensi 
bility, generally of some portion of the face, often 



A Trip to Maui. 203 

the hands and feet, and sometimes the lobes of the 
ears. This is soon followed by a discoloration of 
the skin, which becomes mottled by pale irregular 
splotches. In the last stages of the disease, the 
ilesh literally dies upon the body, the poor victim 
losing successively the fingers, arms and legs, 
which slough off in the most horrible manner, fre- 
quently before death supervenes. There is but 
little pain usually accompanying this gradual dis- 
solution, the patient moving about and seemingly 
enjoying life even to the last moment. 

When and in what special manner the disease 
originated, or was introduced among these ill-fated 
islands, no reliable information can be gathered. 
So long, however, has it existed among the people 
that it has become a fixed taint upon their blood, 
assuming even to some extent a hereditary form. 

With a view of checking its further diffusion 
among the people, the government has set apart 
the island of Molokai as a sort of retreat or general 
hospital, to which the patients are sent and con- 
fined as fast as the disease is found to develop. 
Even with all the dreaded horrors of this plague 
before them, the natives have a strange insensibil- 
ity to danger, taking no precautionary pains 
against it. 



204 ^ Trip to Maui. 

There are now confined on the island over 000 
persons so afflicted. But as these are all well- 
marked cases, and as the disease is slow to develop, 
being difficult to detect in its incipient stage, there 
are large numbers, doubtless, on all the islands in 
whom it exists in a nascent state, which is certain 
to develop sooner or later. While at Lahaina, I 
saw several in whom the primary stage of the dis- 
ease had recently developed, and who were being 
prepared for transportation. 

As the native population is less than 50,000, it is 
safe to say that at least one in 40 has this leprosy 
either in its active or incipient stage — a proportion 
so frightfully large as to well fill the mind with the 
gloomiest apprehensions. It will be proper, how- 
ever, to add that so far the disease has been almost 
wholly confined to the native class, only two au- 
thenticated cases, I believe, having yet occurred 
among the whites. 

At Wailuku, on the opposite side of the island, 
we found the most highly cultivated and altogeth 
er the most desirable section we had as yet visited. 
The soil here is of surpassing fertility and of great 
depth ; I doubt whether there can be found any- 
where else in the world a soil of such rare fertility. 
Here is the center of the sugar interests of the 



A Trip to Maui. 207 

islands, the finest plantations being found in the 
valley. Here you see stretching away for miles 
nothing but dense green fields of sugar cane of 
wonderful growth. Here the inhabitants talk noth- 
ing but " sugar, sugar." The very air is laden with 
the saccharine vapors that rise from the many mills 
scattered throughout this pleasant valley. Even 
the very " lasses " look sweet. 

I had heard many wonderful stories about the 
sugar-producing capabilities of theso islands, and 
of course thought them highly over- wrought. In 
our own country, 1 believe, from | to one ton of 
sugar to the acre is thought a good yield. 

But here the planter is not satisfied if he does 
not realize from two and a half to taree tons per 
acre. What would an American sugar planter say 
to a yield of seven tons per acre ? Yet this amount 
is often taken from the lands here. Nor is this 
merely an exceptional production oi a few choice 
acres only, for it is not infrequently the yield of 
quite large tracts of land. I myself saw at the 
West Maui Association cane that was being 
worked off of a tract of land nearly twenty acres 
in extent, that was yielding between five and six 
tons per acre. This was from cane of twenty 
months' growth. 



208 A Trip to Maui. 

The cane does not ripen here as in our own 
country, but continues to grow for several years, 
constantly improving in quality. The cane is 
mostly grown by irrigation on this side of the 
island, the Wailuku river furnishing an abundance 
of water for that purpose. The crop hiere is always 
certain, there being no frosts to endanger it, and 
it is not subject to any other casualty. The plant- 
er, therefore, keeps his mill in almost continuous 
operation, working off his crops at his leisure. 

As fast as the cane is worked off' of say 100 acres, 
it is immediately replanted, (rattoon being now 
almost abandoned,) so that by the time 800 or 
1,000 acres has been worked over, the replanted 
cane is fit for the mill. 

The following list of the various plantations 
throughout the islands, with their average annual 
production and maximum capacity of mill, will 
give some idea of the extent to which this im- 
portant branch of industry has been developed. 
The plantations enumerated are, it will be seen, 
producing only about one-half the quantity that 
the mills are capable of turning out. This is at- 
tributable to the scarcity of labor, which year by 
year is becoming a more serious obstacle to all in- 
dustrial enterprises. 



A Trip to Maui. 



200 



The cause of course is to be found in the con- 
tinuous decrease of native population, already- 
pointed out. This growing scarcity of laborers is 
however in a measure repaired by the yearly 
growth of the Chinese population, the immigration 
of which race, as in our own country, is greatly on 
the increase. 

On Hawaii there are nine plantations, of the fol- 
lowing yield and capacity : 







Average Crop. 


CAPACITY OK Mll.T 


Kohala plantation, 


000 tons. 


1,000 tons. 


Onomea 


u 


500 " 


1,000 " 


Kaupakuea 


u 


500 " 


1,000 " 


Spencer 


u 


500 " 


1,000 " 


Paukaa 


ii 


300 " 


500 " 


Kaiwiki 


(.1. 


400 " 


600 " 


Kona 


CI 


100 " 


200 " 


Kau 


u 


150 " 


200 " 


Kaaiaha 


(.(. 


100 " 


200 " 


On the island of Maui there are 


eleven : 


Ulapalakua 


plantation 


, 800 tons. 


1,200 tons. 


Pioneer 




1,000 " 


1,200 " 


West Maui 




GOO " 


1,200 " 


Waikapu 




.500 " 


800 " 


Waihee 




1,000 " 


1,200 " 


East Maui 




500 " 


800 " 


Haiku 




G50 " 


1,200 " 


Han a 




250 " 


•400 " 



27 



210 A Trip to Maui. 



AVERAGE Crop. Capacity of Mii.i.. 

Union Mill plantation, 300 tons. GOO tons. 

Hobron " 300 " 400 " 

Mokaweo " 400 " GOO " 

On the island of Oahn there are six : 
Kaueohe plantation, 100 tons. 250 tons. 

Heela " 200 " 400 " 

Kaalaea " 400 " 1,000 " 

Halawa " 60 " 200 " 

Waialua " 100 " 200 " 

Laiea " " 100 " 250 " 

There are only four on the island of Kauai : 
Leihue plantation, 400 tons. 1,000 tons. 

Koloa " 250 " 500 " 

Princeville " 400 " 1,000 " 

Waipa " 100 " 200 " 

The culture of sugar was first attempted on these 
islands in 1820, but it was not until 1844 that suf- 
ficient progress had been made to enable it to be- 
come an article of export. In that year there was 
200 tons sent abroad. How rapid has been its 
development since, is shown by the fact that in 
1871 there was 21,700,700 pounds exported. 

The sugar interests of these islands are yet in 
their infancy, the resources being scarcely touched, 
as barely 10 per cent, of the lands suitable for 
sugar are now cultivated. The expenditure of a 
small amount of money would in many places 



A Trip to Maui. 211 



open out large tracts of as good land as those now 
under cultivation. On East Maui I am assured 
that the expenditure of a hundred thousand dol- 
lars for a canal to bring the water from the sum- 
mit of Haleakala would reclaim forty thousand 
acres of land, which would yield from two to four 
tons per acre. 

The sugar interests here are just now under a 
cloud, low prices being the cause, I am told. It 
however seems to me that with all the advanta- 
ges they have here, the certainty of the crop, the 
astounding yield per acre, and labor at 37^ cents 
per day, they ought to successfully compete with 
our own planters, even though they have three 
cents per pound duty in their favor. 

The lao valley, some two miles from the city, is 
one of rare beauty. It is easily reached by a pleas 
ant ride along a clear, rapid stream that comes 
rushing down its sinuous rocky channel, the banks 
of which are checkered with native " taro" patch- 
es, and covered with masses of rare and fragrant 
flowers. As you advance up the valley, the moun- 
tains increase in height, sloping away on either 
hand, at a gentle incline, to an elevation of 6,000 
to 7,000 feet. 

Mosses, ferns and kukui trees spread their green 



2m A Trip to Maui. 

unbroken mantle over these mountains from sum 
mit to base, giving them an effect, when contrasted 
with our own mountains and their meager vegeta- 
tion, that is impossible to describe. The termi- 
nus of the valley is in a vast amphitheatre, bound- 
ed by impassable " pallis," thousands of feet high, 
in the midst of which is a solitary pinnacle of rock, 
full 1,500 feet high. It looks as though it might 
be a splinter cleft by some Titan from the frown- 
ing cliffs above, and hurled into the valley below. 
To faithfully transfer to canvas the beauties of 
this enchanted valley would immortalize any 
painter. 




h 
Q 

w 



£0 
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O 



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The Crater of Haleakala. 215 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The Crater of Haleakala, 

From Wailuku we have a very fine view of the 
grand old mountain of " Haleakala." It is located 
on East Maui, some 30 miles distant, and consti- 
tutes in fact the whole island. This is perhaps one 
of the most remarkable mountains in the world, 
even though we do not take into account that the 
largest crater on the globe is to be found on its 
summit. 

There are mountains much higher, but as 
they rise from the apparently level surface of a 
plain which may constitute the greater portion of 
the elevation, one is not impressed with the idea of 
great height. But this mountain rises right be- 
fore you, a complete, symmetrical cone, right out 
of the ocean, and you can see at one glance every 
inch of its height, from the summit that is wreathed 
in a belt of snowy clouds to the very ocean whose 
waves dash against its rocky shores. It is about 



216 The Crater of Haleakala. 

40 miles in diameter at its base and 10,200 feet 
high. Along its gently sloping sides are thriving 
villages, dense fields of cane, coffee groves, and 
everything that betokens a happy and prosperous 
community. 

To see the crater of Haleakala is to see perhaps 
the finest sight on this globe, so we impatiently 
journeyed thither. 

Mokawau, where we spent the night and made 
preparations for our ascent, is on the northern slope 
and 2,000 feet above the ocean. From this place to 
the summit is a distance of 12 miles. As the jour- 
ney usually occupies two days, and as it is very 
cold on the summit, we provided ourselves with a 
complete outfit of camping utensils, blankets, &c. 
Early one bright morning we set out on our jour- 
ney. 

The first five miles lay over a trail much 
worn by bullock hunters, and not of very steep in- 
cline. Diverging suddenly into an almost unbro- 
ken trail, we soon began our real ascent. The dis- 
tance now being near seven miles, and over 7,000 
feet to ascend, the path became quite abrupt ; in 
many places of a grade fully 2,000 feet to the mile. 
The trail is rough — awful rough is the word — being 
over the rugged, broken surface of old lava flows, 



The Crater of Ealeitkala. 219 



upon which, in occasional patches, is a stunted 
growth of grass and scraggy shrubs. 

At the height of 7,000 feet we struck the clouds. 
At first they were merely thin, vagrant masses of 
fog which came suddenly drifting over us, and as 
suddenly disappearing again. In a few minutes, 
however, we were in the midst of real clouds— the 
same clouds we had so often seen from the earth, 
high above us, piled up in white, billowy fleeces. 
They soon became so dense as to shut out every 
thing, and made it a matter of somewhat skillful 
engineering for our guide to keep in the trail. The 
stratum of clouds was about 2,000 feet thick, as I 
found by my barometer. We were over an hour 
passing through them, and Anally emerged into 
the bright sunshine above, quite wet from our 
aerial bath. 

We were at last above the clouds, and what a 
beautiful sight! Stretching far away, filling the 
whole heavens below, they looked like an endless 
field of snow, dazzlingly bright under the reflected 
light of a clear tropical sun. We were now looking 
down upon the clouds from a distance of nearly 
half a mile, and through breaks in them we could 
catch occasional glimpses of the valley far beneath 
us. It was a curious picture, this strange comming- 



220 The Crater of Haleakala. 

ling of sea, valley and clouds in one common 
plane. We could look over the extreme verge of 
the clouds and see the islands and ocean beyond. 

We do not approach the crater gradually, but 
come upon it in the most sudden manner. Riding 
to the very edge it burst upon us with a sudden- 
ness that was startling, since we were not expect- 
ing it, the slope for the last half mile being quite 
gradual, and nothing to indicate our near approach 
to it. The whole interior surface of the crater has 
a burned, reddish appearance, and looks as fresh 
as though its fires had been hushed but yesterday. 
My first feeling when looking into the crater was 
one of regret that we had not arrived an hour or 
two sooner, as the show seemed to have just closed. 
I could not suppress the thought, when looking into 
this fresh scorched and seared cavity, that Pluto 
had only stepped out for a friendly afternoon's 
call upon Madam Pele, at Kilauea, and we had 
improved the occasion to take a surreptitious peep 
into the awful mysteries of his now silent work- 
shop. 

Here indeed was a crater worthy the name. 
Vesuvius is a little pimple about 3,000 feet high, 
with a little dent in the summit called a crater, 
300 feet deep, and 1,000 feet in diameter. But 



The Crater of Haleahala. 223 

here, stretching below and before us, was a crater 
27 miles in circumference and from 2,000 to 3,000 
feet deep. A section of the Allegheny mountains 
from Cresson to Altoona, if inverted, point down- 
ward, would scarcely fill this yawning pit. The 
entire mountain of Vesuvius would not more 
than fill up this cavitj^ There is plenty of room 
for New York city within this crater — and I am 
not so sure but that a portion at least of it ought 
to be there. 

In this immense crucible nature has, for count- 
less ages, melted and poured out in rivers of liquid 
fire the contents of its capacious stomach to form 
the hills, rocks and valleys below. Here in this 
gigantic laboratory, Pluto has from time immemo- 
rial scorched, melted and sublimed (perhaps that 
explains why the scenery is so sublime here) ma- 
terial enough to make a continent. What a con- 
trast, as it now lies a dead, silent mass of ashes 
and molten rock, after ages of belching and» thun- 
dering that shook the very earth to its foundation ! 

There are thirteen cones in this crater. They 
are all respectable volcanoes in themselves, hav- 
ing well defined craters in their apices, from 200 
to 600 feet in diameter. They vary in height from 
300 to 800 feet, and from a quarter of a mile to a 



224 The Crater of Haleakala. 

mile in diameter at the base. Many of them 
would not suffer in comparison with Vesuvius. 
Here is an assortment of volcanoes that ought to 
suit the most exacting geologist — literally craters 
within a crater. The walls that compose this cra- 
ter are for the most part perpendicular, and have a 
blackened, vitreous appearance from the intense 
heat to which they have been subjected. There 
are, however, several places whereby a descent 
can be made into the crater, but as it is the work 
of a day, we omitted this part of the programme, 
feeling more than satisfied with what we saw from 
the summit. 

We passed the night under an over-arching rock, 
but even under the combined influences of a lively 
fire near us and plenty of blankets, we could not 
keep warm, so cold was it in the rarefied air of this 
lofty region. Sunrise came to find the crater en- 
tirely shut out by dense masses of clouds floating 
about midway from the bottom. The whole sky 
was undercast — that is the right word now — with 
clouds. In a few minutes the heat of the sun be- 
gan to dispel, first the clouds in the crater, then 
along the mountain slope until they were scattered 
in straggling masses, so that the ocean, the valley, 
the earth below, so long eclipsed, were once more 



89 




MMm^' 



The Crater of Haleahala. 227 

in view. This dissolving away of the clouds and 
the gradual reappearance of the world beneath us, 
is a spectacle the grandeur of which cannot be 
described, but once seen will never be forgotten. 

We reached Mokawau on the next evening, there 
learning that the steamer would be at Ulapalakua 
the next morning on its way to the island of Ha- 
waii, 100 miles distant. As we had seen inactive 
craters enough, we accordingly took the boat and 
set out to see a real, live volcano. 



228 Hilo and its Vicinity. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

HiLO AND ITS Vicinity. 

We arrived at Hilo, on the eastern shore of Ha- 
waii, after a run of 30 hours. I don't know what 
Hilo means in English, but am certain I know what 
it ought to mean — rain, eternal rain. I never saw 
anything like it. If Noah's ark had drifted here 
instead of to Ararat, I am certain it would be 
afloat yet. 

Instead of raining here forty days and forty 
nights, it pours down three hundred and sixty-six 
days in the year, and the rest of die time it is quite 
showery. It is currently reported that the inhab- 
itants even dry their clothes in the rain ; but for 
the truth of this latter statement I wish it distinct- 
ly understood that I do not vouch. On the contra- 
ry, I feel it my duty to advise that it be received 
with great caution, as it is probably an exaggera- 
tion. 

I am informed by one who has kept a record for 
some years that the annual rain-fall here is over 22 



Hilo and its Vicinity. 229 

feet, and even more than that a little way up 
the mountain. When I say that within twenty or 
thirty miles of this place, in several directions, the 
rain-fall does not amount to six inches per annum, 
some idea may be formed of the endless variety to 
be found in these curious islands. 

Hilo is located on the eastern shore of Hawaii, 
at the base of Mauna Kea, whose summit, clad in 
eternal snow, is clearly visible in the distance, afid 
to the right, as you approach the city; while Mau- 
na Loa to the left, some 80 miles distant, springs 
up a smooth rounded dome, from whose apex rises 
a column of smoke, high above the summit, spread- 
ing out in a fan-like form, dissolving into the 
azure blue of the sky, and attesting the presence 
of volcanic fires within. 

They call it a city here, but in our own country 
it would rank as the most modest of villages. 
However, as it is, relatively to the population of the 
islands, about half as large as New York, we will 
excuse the metropolitan airs its citizens put on. It 
contains about 500 inhabitants, of whom, as is the 
case with all the towns of the islands, a vastly pre- 
ponderating proportion are natives. It is the only 
town of any importance on the island, and with 
the exception of Kailua, located at the northern 



230 Hilo and its Vicinity. 



extremity of Kealekekua Bay, on the western side, 
is about the only port where any considerable 
traffic is carried on. 

The little steamer Kilauea touches here once in 
two weeks (when the weather is fair) and one or 
two erratic schooners occasionally drop in, with 
something of the regularity and certainty with 
which a comet approaches the earth. The occur- 
rence of this event is an occasion of real excite- 
ment, and forms a healthy variation in that monot- 
ony of life which is marked only by the daily rou- 
tine of earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, which 
arouse some degree of mental activity and serve 
in a measure to dispel that dozing lethargy which 
fastens upon the mind in this dreamy climate. 

By the scandal-loving native the vessel is hailed 
as a messenger with a well-filled budget of gossip, 
which has for weeks accumulated in the courtly 
atmosphere of Honolulu, or which has rippled the 
social surface in the more quiet and rural life of 
Maui. But by the solid man of business and let- 
ters it is looked upon as a herald of matters of 
weightier import ; for he is aware that peradven- 
ture some steamer or clipper ship from Australia 
or California may have touched at Honolulu before 
the departure of the schooner. The fortunate con- 



Hilo and its Vicinity. 231 



junction of these events he well knows will bring 
news fresh and startling from the great world 
abroad. 

It is pleasant to see him drop eagerly into his 
easy chair, impatient with his last daily paper, and 
observe the smile of perfect contentment and joy 
that lights up his face when, glancing at the date, 
he discovers that the earth has only made 45 rev- 
olutions on its axis since, by the magic of the press, 
this waif was flung into the great ocean of news. 

It is one of the quaint experiences of a sojourn 
in these islands to be carried literally over the 
space of three generations, and see with your own 
eyes how our worthy ancestors lived, moved and 
had their being in ante-telegraph and railroad 
times. 

This means of communication forms the only 
connecting link between Hilo and the outside 
world. There is no harbor here, but a passable 
roadstead provides some degree of security for ves- 
sels when the weather is not too stormy. There 
are a few good buildings, and one or two churches 
of fair dimensions, over one of which Rev. Mr. 
Ooan, the veteran missionary, presides. 

The vicinity of Hilo abounds in objects of inter- 
est. About six miles toward the summit of Mauna 



2S2 Hilo and its Vicinity. 

Loa is the terminus of the great lava flow of 1855, 
which was making straight for Hilo, and the doom 
of Sodom seemed to be upon it, when suddenly 
the eruption ceased, and the flow stopped short 
about six miles away, much to the relief of the 
terror-stricken inhabitants. 

In going from the city into the pleasant district 
of Puna, the route leads throu gh a forest of rare 
and wondrous beauty, beginning about three miles 
from Hilo. To say that the road — or rather path — 
passes through the forest, is strictly true, since for 
the distance of nearly eight miles the road is but a 
narrow tunnel cut through a matted mass of trees, 
ferns and vines, closely interwoven, impenetrable 
in density and gorgeous in their luxuriance of 
growth, fantastic shapes and coloring. 

After a sweltering ride of several miles over the 
heat-concentrating surface of a naked lava field, 
one plunges into this shadowy retreat as into the 
delicious coolness of a bath in the limpid waters of 
the Wailuku, as over many a blackened precipice 
and through solitary gorges it rushes onward to 
the sea. So dense is this forest that the piercing 
rays of a vertical sun are unable to penetrate, save 
in occasional streaks and streams of light, which, 
darting in illuminating beams through the tangled 




FOREST SCENE NEAR HILO. 



30 



Hilo and its Vicinity. 235 

foliage above, kindles into a thousand splendors 
the fairy scene about us. 

Nor is there a charm for the eye alone ; for hid- 
den in the deep recesses, the intricate mazes of 
this forest, multitudes of birds of rare, sweet notes 
pour forth in delicious melody their entrancing 
strains, as if to render complete the enchantment 
by blending with the harmony of color and form 
the inspiring sweetness of melodious song. 

When looking upon this almost phenomenal 
growth of vegetation, it is easy to realize what be- 
fore was so difficult, viz.: that marvelous growth of 
vegetation which, in the carboniferous age, geolog- 
ical science implies as a necessity in the formation 
of coal beds. But here we see, right before us, a 
co-existent demonstration, not only of the possibil- 
ity, but of the theory itself, as one can readily see 
that a few centuries of accumulated organic debris, 
such as is contained in this wondrous forest, would 
be quite sufficient for the formation of an average 
stratum of coal. 

Of course, in the impenetrable depths of this 
dense forest, wild beasts, venomous reptiles and 
noxious insects of great size and ferocity find a se- 
cure retreat in immense multitudes. In this you 
are entirely mistaken. Nothing of the kind can be 



236 Hilo and its Vicinity. 

found throughout the length and breadth of this or 
any other forest in the islands. Not a reptile of 
any variety, even to the harmless lizard. 

These islands, it must be remembered, are curi- 
ous in not only what they contain, but equally so 
in what they do not contain. One of the most re- 
markable features of the islands is the entire ab- 
sence of all kinds of wild animals, birds of prey, or 
reptiles of any kind. There are no snakes, alliga- 
tors, crocodiles, or even toads or frogs to be found 
on any of the islands. With the single exception 
of centipedes, there is nothing that crawls upon 
the ground or flies in the air that is an enemy to 
human life. 

This sense of perfect security adds greatly to the 
enjoyment of the tourist ; for it is indeed a comfort 
to feel that in prowling about in the tangled net- 
work of a deep, dense forest, you are in no danger 
of treading upon the tail of a serpent, rushing into 
the jaws of an alligator, or intruding upon the lair 
of some savage beast. Even in the farthest depths 
of the wildest forest to be found in any of the 
islands, you are as secure from this peril as in the 
friendly shade of your own garden. 

It is true there are multitudes of great fat spi- 
ders, that spread their radiating forms pendent in 



Hilo and its Vicinity. 237 

the air, like cart-wheels, but they are as harmless 
as the web they weave. Even the mosquito is here 
devoid of the pertinacity and ferocity that charac- 
terize his American congener. He lacks the im- 
pertinence of his American cousin, and has a 
charming suavity of manner, a modesty of deport- 
ment that is an unspeakable comfort of warm 
nights. He is here a well-bred insect, and always 
approaches you with extreme diffidence and cau- 
tion, and invariably presents his bill with an apol- 
ogy. This greatly moderated blood- sucking pro- 
pensity is perhaps due to the indolent influences of 
the climate, which here produces in all animate 
things a sort of dreamy languor. 

Curious enough, even this insect is not indige- 
nous to the islands, but was introduced here since 
their discovery. There are those who claim to 
know the precise date of their importation here, 
asserting that the germs of the insect were con- 
tained in the water used on board of a whale-ship, 
as they frequently visit the islands as a port of 
relay and supplies. 

This marked deficiency of nature was sought to 
be remedied some years since by an act of the na- 
tive parliament, an effort being made to introduce 
upon the islands spjne of the more harmless varie- 



238 Hilo and its Vicinity. 

ties of snakes, frogs and other reptiles. In pursu- 
ance of this scheme, a vessel was dispatched to 
foreign countries, and actually returned to the 
harbor of Honolulu with a select assortment of 
vermin. The natives, however, arose en masse., 
boarded the vessel during the night, and in a very 
summary manner disposed of its hideous, wriggling 
cargo. It is fair to presume that they did so upon 
the idea that they already had quite enough immi- 
grants from foreign countries. 

This paucity in the natural history of the islands 
has an important bearing upon the theory of geo- 
graphical distribution of animals, and is well worth 
the thoughtful consideration of the natural histo- 
rian. 

I shall always remember with delight the pleas- 
ures of an excursion we made to gather coral here. 
The water over which we passed was clear as crys- 
tal, so that the smallest objects could plainly be 
seen at the bottom, many fathoms deep. Masses 
of coral of all sizes and shapes were growing in 
thick profusion in snowy clumps and clusters all 
over the bottom. Fishes of all sizes and varieties, 
and rare beauty, disported in the waters beneath, 
giving to the whole the appearance of a gigantic 
aquarium. The Kanakas, who are all expert swim- 



Hilo and its Vicinity. 239 

mers, dive to the bottom — sometimes 40 to 50 feet 
— and after a long absence suddenly rise to the 
surface, holding in each hand a most bewitching 
bunch of coral. We went to a spot where the 
water was of moderate depth, and gathered these 
beautiful ocean products until we were tired, and 
then took up our journey to Kilauea. 



2IfO A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 



CHAPTER XV. 

A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 

Having made up our minds to include an ascent 
to the summit of Mauna Loa in our trip to Kilauea, 
we completed our outfit at Hilo for this expedi- 
tion. As it involves a ride on horseback of some 
two hundred miles over the roughest roads in the 
world, and much exposure besides, it became need- 
ful to thoroughly prepare ourselves for the hard- 
ships and discomfort awaiting us. We therefore 
procured three horses for our own use, and three 
mules for the natives who were to accompany us, 
having added a special guide here for this trip. 
Three pack mules carried our tent, blankets, pro- 
visions and instruments. 

We left Hilo for Kilauea at six in the morning. 
It is needless to say in the rain, for nothing short 
of a special providence brings a clear day here. 
Almost without intermission we journeyed in the 
rain the whole day until our arrival at the volcano 
house — hard by the crater — late in the evening. 



A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 24I 



The distance is said to be thirty miles, but I am 
sure if reduced to its equivalent on an average 
Ohio road it would not be less than one hundred 
miles. The volcano house is a small grass hut kept 
by a native, and provides accommodations for two 
or three persons, if not too large in their expecta- 
tions. The weather being so unfavorable, of course 
we could see no signs of the crater until we were 
immediately upon it. The first evidence we saw 
was about a half mile from the volcano house. 

Jets of steam and smoke, laden with a disgusting 
odor of sulphur, were puffing out of fissures and 
pits in the earth all around, much resembling the 
smouldering fires beneath the surface of some im- 
mense lime kiln. As a dense fog hung over the 
crater, we could at first see no signs of fire, but as 
the clouds partially drifted away, the whole region 
became luminous with a lurid glare that looked 
like a distant city on fire, viewed through a dense 
cloud of smoke. The clouds of smoke, the rising 
steam jets on all hands, the strong smell of sul- 
phur, the swashing sound of the invisible molten 
lava in the crater below, gave to the whole region 
an uncomfortable outlook of perdition. 

Feeling literally used up by the day's journey, 
we retired at once after supper. During the night 

81 



24^ A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 

I awoke and found our room brightly lighted up 
by the fires of the distant lake. The clouds had 
lifted, leaving the crater clear. The fires of the 
burning lake shone with dazzling brightness, tint- 
ing the whole heavens with its red, fiery blaze. 

To those who are accustomed to look at pictures 
of Etna, Vesuvius or Stromboli, with their sharp 
peaks, and a puif of smoke wreathing their pointed 
summits, the crater of Kilauea will scarcely fill 
their idea of what a volcano should be. It is, how- 
ever, celebrated for two things : as being the 
largest active crater in the world and as being the 
only one whereby a near approach can be efi'ected 
to the burning lake when in an active state. Mau- 
na Loa (long mountain,) upon the side of which 
Kilauea is situated, rises to a hight of over 14,000 
feet, spanning the island from ocean to ocean. 

Where the crater is located, 3,700 feet above the 
sea, the slope of the mountain is very gentle, being 
to the unpracticed eye perfectly level. It may, 
therefore, be truly defined as an immense hole in 
the ground and looks as though some day the whole 
face of the earth, the size of the crater, had sud- 
denly fallen down a thousand feet or so, leaving a 
circular rim of perpendicular walls that bound the 
crater. This wall is now from 500 to 800 feet high. 



A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 2^5 



This brings you to a terrace or ledge that lies like 
a concentric ring a half mile wide at the bottom, 
and around the extreme edge of the basin. At 
the inner edge of the second ring or plateau, there 
is a second drop of 150 feet. This brings you to a 
sharp and defined basin about two miles in diame- 
ter, and of almost level surface. 

The crater, therefore, as a " whole," may be de- 
scribed as consisting of a main basin, three miles 
in diameter, of an average depth of six hundred 
feet, in the bottom and center of which is another 
basin two miles in diameter, depressed about one 
hundred and fifty feet. The latter is in fact a real 
lake of fire, perhaps a thousand feet deep, and 
covered over with a comparatively thin incrusta- 
tion of black hardened lava. The form of the cra- 
ter may be better understood when I say that prior 
to 1868 the main crater, three miles in diameter, 
had filled with liquid lava to within five hundred 
feet of the verge. In the general wreck of matter 
during that year, when the whole island was tilted 
about with earthquakes, Kilauea no doubt '' sprung 
a leak," causing a central mass full two miles in 
diameter to suddenly drop over eight hundred 
feet. The bottom literally fell out. Since that 
time this central basin has been filling up, and is 



^4^ A Trip to the Crater of ^dlauea. 



again within one hundred and fifty feet of the first 
bottom, constituting the ledge referred to. 

At the eastern end of the interior basin there is 
a mound rising up to the hight of 150 feet above 
the general level of the bottom. It is about a half 
mile in diameter. On the summit of this mound 
is found the real live active lake. It is usually 
only one lake called Halemaumau (everlasting 
house) but sometimes divides into several. This 
is the central point of interest in the crater. It is 
here that the real outlet is found, where the flow- 
ing lava pours out to fill the vast area below. 
Taking our man Antonie and a guide from the vol- 
cano house, we set out to reach this lake. Provid- 
ing ourselves with suitable clothing and a staflf, we 
commenced our descent into the crater. 

The descent of the outer wall is effected by an 
old rickety staircase of half decayed trunks of ferns, 
laid in parallel rows on the steep earth. The labor 
of a half hour brought us to the old bottom of 
1868. Crossing a field of lava the black surface of 
which was twisted, wrinkled and distorted into a 
thousand curious shapes and figures, and which 
crackled under our feet and wore our boots in a 
ruinous manner, we at last reached the outer 
edge of the lower or central basin. 



A. Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 249 

From here it is about a mile and a half to the 
burning lake, and our route lay directly across this 
fiery ocean. Our guide, after some hesitation, and 
a few minutes' careful inspection, ventured out 
upon it, and we followed. We had not advanced 
a hundred yards until I began to feel a burning 
sensation at the bottoms of my feet. Stooping 
down, I placed my hand upon the surface of the 
lava, and found it was almost burning hot. 

We were indeed upon a literal sea of fire. This 
whole vast blackened surface was but a thin crust 
upon an abyss of molten lava hundreds of feet 
deep. As the lake for some days has been unusu- 
ally active, it has poured out a stream of lava 
which has caused a sudden rise of some 50 feet in 
the pool below. This has heaved up the hardened 
surface, breaking it into huge cakes of lava, which 
are crowded and piled up in irregular masses, giv- 
ing the whole surface the appearance of an ice- 
field after the sudden subsidence of a flood. The 
surface grew hotter and hotter as we advanced. 

Through the innumerable cracks and fissures 
that lined the surface, we could see the glowing 
white molten lava beneath, upon which the thin 
crust on which we were standing almost seemed to 
float. We thrust the end of a stafi" a few inches 

38 



250 A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 

into a crevice, and it was kindled into a blaze in an 
instant. In many places, by a sudden contraction 
of the crust, the edges of the broken lava were 
thrust up so as to partially overlap other adjoining 
edges, plainly revealing their half-hardened, half- 
molten condition. The crust upon which we were 
walking I should judge was about two feet thick, 
one-half of which was cooled to a blackened state, 
and the other half fading by insensible degrees 
from a red into a white, glowing, melting heat. 

It was a strange and terrible situation, thus to be 
standing upon a thin crust of half-congealed lava, 
which alone separated us from a depth of perhaps 
a thousand feet of molten rock, limpid as water. 
The occasional grating and grinding sound of the 
huge cakes as they contracted by the rapid cooling 
of their surface was not calculated to quiet one's 
nerves. I began to feel like I wanted to go home. 
We, however, pushed forward until a sudden 
change of wind drifted over us a current of blister- 
ing hot air, saturated with the strong fumes of sul- 
phur. The wind having changed, its course was 
now driving towards us the parched air from the 
surface of a thousand acres of recently flowing 
lava, shimmering and quivering a half mile to the 
right of us. 






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A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 253 

A thousand feet or so of liquid fire beneath us 
we did not mind so long as it did not burn the soles 
of our boots oft'; but we did not care to take the 
chances of being smothered by the hot breath 
from " Pele's furnace," so we beat a hasty retreat. 
Our guide now informed us that if we wished to 
reach the lake, we would have to change our 
course and make a detour of some four or five 
miles — a tedious, exhausting walk. We set out 
on our new route, bound if possible to reach the 
lake, and not to be discouraged by ordinary imped- 
'iments. As the Irishman said when he was trying 
to kiss Biddy, " ^oe were determined to get at the cra- 
ter's mouth." We now cautiously threaded our way 
along the edge of the basin, it being more pleasant 
to our feet. 

We suddenly discovered a stream of flowing 
lava that had burst out of the mass below and was 
winding in a long, red, blazing sheet over the 
blackened surface of colder lava. We cautiously 
approached it, and by keeping to windward could 
go within a few feet of it. Turning our faces to 
avoid the fierce, blistering heat, we plunged the 
end of our stafi" into the thick viscid mass, which ad- 
hered to the end in glowing, plastic lumps. It is 
very much like melted glass, being of a tough, 



254 '^ Tj'ip to the Crater of Kilauea. 

waxy nature, and can be moulded readily into any 
form while hot. It cools rapidlj^, however, becom- 
ing quite brittle when cold, and breaking with a 
clear lustrous fracture. We twisted it like wax 
into every grotesque shape, inserted coins about 
which it quickly hardened, securing in this manner 
many curious specimens. So intent were we on 
watching this new sight, that we did not discover, 
until our guide called to ns, that another stream 
had burst out a few hundred feet away, and was 
rapidly circling about us, and if we did not quickly 
escape we would be imprisoned within an impassa- 
ble circle of fire. 

We did not wait for a second warning, but went. 
As we neared the active lake, our guides became 
more and more cautious, carefully sounding with 
their staffs the thin, hollow shells we were con- 
stantly crossing, being now upon a bed of lava that 
had only recently flowed over the lip of the lake. 
In a few minutes we were on* the very verge of the 
fearful, seething, boiling cauldron. The awful 
sight that we beheld as we gazed into the fiery, 
abyss at our feet struck us dumb and held us tej-- 
ror-stricken to the spot. For some minutes not a 
word was spoken, and I could read in the furtive 
glance from every eye, and in each pallid face, the 




CROSSING A LAVA FIELD. 



A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 257 

one common thought which this appalling scene 
suggested. 

The sulphurous exhalations from the fiery brain 
of a Dante or a Pollock, or the black and white 
horrors that distil from the burning pencil of a 
Dore, will never again inspire me with a sense of 
terror. Pen or pencil can but feebly portray the 
terrific grandeur of this living, moving, surging 
sea of fire, as it lashed, and tossed, and hissed, and 
boiled, in all its crimson fury. Surely here was a 
lake large enough, bright enough, hot enough, sul- 
phurous enough, and terrible enough, to suit the 
most exacting and devout follower of Calvin. 

As near as I could judge the lake was about TOO 
feet in diameter. The usual distance from the 
edge of the lake down to the surface of the lava is 
about two hundred feet. As it has been quite ac- 
tive recently, it is now filled to within fifty feet of 
the top. It sometimes rises in an hour or two to 
such a degree that it pours over the edge of the 
lake, and then quickly subsides to its normal level. 
The whole contents of the lake was in a liquid 
state. There were numerous jets or fountains of 
lava playing in various parts, throwing the white 
liquid lava fifty to eighty feet in the air, with a 
loud puffing sound, as the pent-up air and steam 



268 A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 

escaped. The walls around the lake are black, and 
glistened with a vitreous coating which has been 
formed by the lava, as it dashes against its rugged 
face like the surf of the ocean. The whole inside 
looks very much like the interior of a blastfurnace 
after a heavy blast has been run. In many places 
the lava kept surging in great red billows against 
the perpendicular wall, which seemed to melt be- 
fore it like wax. 

On the opposite side from us, I noticed that an 
immense cavern, fully one hundred feet deep, had 
thus been literally melted out, in which the white 
hot lava surged and dashed about in the most furi- 
ous manner, sometimes leaping to the very roof of 
this cavern, full forty, feet high, dashing its fiery 
spray over the red hot dome from which it dripped 
and trickled continually in a thousand long, ropy 
streams. At times the fire would abate its fury 
for some minutes, when the lake would be quickly 
covered with a half-hardened stratum of lava. In 
an instant a stream of light would dart from shore 
to shore, then others in various directions, when 
suddenly, with a terrific explosion, huge cakes of 
lava would be hurled high into the air with an im- 
mense column of molten lava, the whole descend- 
ing with a fearful splash, disappearing under the 



J. Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 259 



surface and remelting in an instant. Rocks of the 
most obdurate nature, when thrown into this lava, 
melt like lead. 

As the wind was favorable, the Professor and I 
advanced to within forty feet of the edge of the 
lake. As there was a jet in full blast near the side 
next to us, which threw particles full thirty feet 
above us, descending sometimes on the verge of 
the lake, we did not care to cultivate a closer ac- 
quaintance. Our position was directly between 
the two lakes, the southern one of which, some 
three hundred feet distant, we could not reach on 
account of a current of hot air. The lava upon 
which we stood was so hot that we could only keep 
our feet from burning by changing from one to the 
other. We were, in fact, standing upon the vaulted 
archway of an immense tunnel that connected the 
two lakes, and through which, right under our very 
feet, the liquid lava flowed and reflowed in eddies 
and waves. 

How perilous was our position will be realized 
when I state that in a few days thereafter, a great 
portion of this very roof fell through into the fires 
below; and I noticed on our return to Kilauea a 
week after, that the whole dividing space was rap- 
idly melting down, so that in all probability in a 



260 A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 

few weeks the two lakes would again be enclosed in 
one continuous wall. How long we remained here 
I know not. No one in this terrible presence can 
take note of time. We returned to the Volcano 
House after an absence of nine hours, completely 
exhausted by the excitement and exertion of the 
trip. 

After partaking with unusual zest of the supper 
which awaited our return, prepared by our gener- 
ous host in his provident care for our comfort, we 
surrounded a cheerful, blazing fire — for it must be 
borne in mind that at this elevation, as the night 
approaches, cold, chilling blasts are sent down from 
the summit of Mauna Kea — and there reviewed 
the thrilling adventures of the day. 

We soon, however, fell into a drowsy torpor, the 
uncertain sleep of exhaustion, from which we were 
suddenly aroused by the clamor and excitement of 
the natives, who were briskly hurrying about in 
wild disorder. On awakening, I found the room 
brilliantly lighted up, and the whole sky suffused 
with a ruddy tint, as though a great city were 
ablaze. Even the far distant summits of Mauna 
Loa and Mauna Kea reflected from their snowy 
surface the rays that pierced the darkness and 
gloom of night. 




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A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 263 

Rushing to the brink of the crater with our 
glasses, we there beheld a sight that was calcu- 
lated to strike terror into the stoutest heart. The 
lake we had so recently quitted had suddenly 
sprung into a fierce, maddening activity, lashing its 
glowing surface, in a tumult of rage, into great 
whirls and billows of fire, throwing with violent 
explosions huge masses of red-hot stones, com- 
mingled with a shower of liquid lava, high into 
the air, and slopping over the brink of the lake in 
great currents the fiery contents of its capacious 
stomach, which poured in livid sheets of tire and 
gory streams over tlie very same spot where only 
a few hours before we had stood. 

From some mysterious agency, the lake had sud- 
denly filled to within a few feet of the surface. 
During a period of activity this intermittent rise 
and subsidence is always manifest, and it is sur- 
prising how quickly the lava will sometimes rise in 
the lake, even to a hight of 30 to 40 feet. When 
the Professor and myself made our near approach 
to it, we noticed that several times during our 
short stay the lava would rise, in the space of a 
few minutes, several feet, and then slowly subside 
to its usual level. This is caused,! presume, either 
by a sudden acceleration in the flow of lava from 



264 -^ Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 

its subterranean source, or by a temporary ob- 
struction to the flow in the channel which serves as 
an outlet through which the lava is discharged 
from the lake into the great basin below. 

The sudden rise on the night I refer to must have 
taken place within the space of twenty minutes, 
and in view of the fact that it occurred only a few 
hours after we had left, makes me shudder yet to 
think of the extreme peril into which the irresisti- 
ble fascinations of this wonderful phenomenon 
drew us. 

Some definite idea of the immense volume of 
lava that discharges from this lake may be formed 
when the diameter of lake and hight of rise is 
considered. The quantity represented by this rise 
in the lake could not have been much short of 
15,000,000 cubic feet. Yet large as is this quantity, 
it becomes relatively insignificant when compared 
with that which accumulates in the central basin 
during a few days of activity. As before stated, 
the diameter of this basin, encompassed by the 
inner verge of the black ledge, is fully two miles. 
Yet during our stay at Kilauea, the surface of this 
basin had risen about fifty feet, which would indi- 
cate that over twenty -seven hundred millions of cubic 
feet of molten lava had flowed into it during that 



A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 265 

time, or over 225 millions of tons — more than all 
the blast furnaces in the United States combined 
could melt in eighty years, even if it were no more 
refractory in its nature than iron. 

We watched this terrific scene until late at 
night, and when we were at last obliged by sheer 
fatigue to retire, the scene was one of unabated 
terror and grandeur, and the lake shone with un- 
diminished brilliancy. 

The next morning the lava had receded in the 
lake to its normal level, but the dense volumes of 
smoke, and the still glowing surface of incandes- 
cent lava spreading over the sides of the cone, bore 
evidence of the mighty throes that had so recently 
raged in its fiery bosom. 

Mounting our horses, we rode several miles along 
the western brink of the crater, until we arrived at 
a commanding point, where we could look down 
upon the surface of the lake, now something over 
a mile distant. From this hight we could obtain a 
fine view of the lake, which, though distant, was 
in a measure compensated by the comforting 
thought that we were not in momentary danger of 
being plunged into the fiery embrace of death — a 
fate one certainly tempts by venturing near its 
treacherous brink. Yet even this point of observa- 

84 



266 A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 



tion is not devoid of danger, as we stood upon a 
crumbling wall of congealed lava nearly 1,000 feet 
in perpendicular hight. 

Of the terror that fills one in looking down into 
this blackened abyss, the Rev. Mr. Cheever says : 
" One of the early visitors there said that on com- 
ing near the rim he fell upon his hands and knees 
awe-struck, and crept cautiously to the rocky 
brink, unwilling at once to walk up to the giddy 
verge and look down as from a mast-head upon the 
fiery gulf at his feet." He further says : " I have 
myself known seamen that had faced unfearingly 
all the perils of the deep and had rushed boldly 
into battle with its mammoth monsters, to stand 
appalled on the brink of Kilauea, and depart with- 
out daring to try its abyss." 

It may be regarded as a fortunate co-incidence 
that the trade winds here perpetually sweep in a 
strong current in the direction of the only possible 
approach to the burning lake. It is to this circum- 
stance alone that a visit to the lake becomes at all 
possible, and it explains what may seem so unac- 
countable, that the fierce heat, radiating from such 
a large expanse of liquid hot surface, does not pre- 
vent a close approach to it. Were there that vari- 
ability in wind currents at Kilauea that exists in 



A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 267 

other countries, no one could safely venture near 
the brink of Halemaumau, as the sudden shifting 
of the wind might drive over the unfortunate spec- 
tator a blast of air fervent with heat from the 
seething surface of lava, which would instantly 
parch him into a crisp. Were it not for this stabil- 
ity of the wind, even a nearer approach than the 
black ledge would be impossible, since even at 
that distance, though the heat might be moderated 
within endurable limits, yet one would be certain 
to be stifled by the strong fumes of sulphur with 
which the air is constantly laden. 

Although there is a stiff breeze blowing from 
you without a moment's intermission, even then, 
when in close proximity to the lake, one can scarce- 
ly avoid the blistering effects of the fierce radiant 
heat, and it is only by keeping the face averted 
and by occasionally dropping under the friendly 
lee of some projecting piece of lava that you can 
maintain your position for any length of time. 

Kilauea or Lua Pele (Pele's pit) as it is termed 
by the natives, is in the native mythology the 
abode of that most terrible of the volcanic deities 
" the goddess Pele." Here, reveling in the fetid 
fumes of a noxious atmosphere, and disporting in 
the fiery surf of the great red billows that dash 



268 A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea^ 

their livid crests against the blackened walls of the 
crater, the goddess and her attendant spirits hold 
their horrid nightly vigils. 

It is no wonder that a race of people by nature 
superstitious, in the presence of so great a mystery, 
such awe-inspiring manifestations of force, should 
regard it as purely the eflfects of a personal agen- 
cy, and it is natural that an imagination distorted 
by fear should find in the spectral shadows of a 
sulphurous air and the infinite shapes in the surge 
and surf of a fiery ocean, the ready material to be 
wrought by a morbid fancy into forms and shapes, 
the tangible personification of a power hidden in 
its source, and with effects so vast and terrible. I 
must confess that even with all the philosophy I 
could bring to bear I could not wholly repress a 
nascent pantheism, and in an imagination quick- 
ened by the evidence of life and power about us, 
I could almost discern the shadowy outlines of the 
spirits and demons that rule and people this realm 
of eternal flame. 

I felt quite prepared to pardon the superstitious 
terror in which the natives hold this region, for 
they certainly do have a most wholesome dread of 
this pit, and never approach it without some act or 
token whereby to appease and conciliate the terri- 



A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 269 

ble goddess. In former times, it was customary 
for the natives, as a religious rite, to throw infants 
into this lake of fire ; and even now when they can 
summon courage to go near enough, they are cer- 
tain to take something to oflfer as a sacrifice — most 
generally a twig or leaf of the sacred Maile, which 
they throw into the flames. 

They are however very loth to approach closely 
to the verge of the lake. Even our own guides, after 
advancing to within a few hundred feet, refused to 
go farther, so that the Professor and myself were 
obliged to complete the remaining distance alone. 
My wife, with a courage and determination I can 
not too highly praise, resolutely accompanied us to 
within a short distance of the rim of the lake ; but 
one glance at its fires was enough to dissolve her 
hitherto well-preserved courage, and the natives 
were glad enough to avail themselves of the op- 
portunity to pilot her to a more comfortable if not 
a safer distance, leaving the Professor and myself 
alone. 

This crater was first visited by the Kev. Mr. El- 
lis in 1823, or at least he is to be accredited with 
the first description of a journey to it. From his 
description of it at that time, while possessing the 
same general characteristics as now, it was as to 



270 A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 

many points of detail quite dissimilar. In addition 
to the present south lake, the whole northern part 
was one vast flood of burning matter, that portion 
being now covered by the black ledge, and exhib- 
iting no evidence of fire, save that which flows 
from the south lake. 

There were at that time, also, fifty-one conical 
islands of various sizes and hights, rising from the 
burning surface. There are none of these now. 
This changeability is readily accounted for when 
the general mode of its activity is understood. 

Kilauea, unlike all other craters, never over- 
flows, but when filled to a certain point bursts 
a passage through the side of the mountain be- 
low the level of the crater, through which it dis- 
charges its liquid contents in devastating floods 
over the ill-fated country below. When this hap- 
pens, the bottom of the crater drops down several 
hundred feet, where it remains until the eruptive 
flood ceases, when it again gradually fills up. This 
usually takes from eight to ten years, when the 
same emptying process is repeated. It does not, 
however, always burst a passage above sea-level, 
but quite as often finds a sub-marine outlet. 

The first authenticated eruption occurred in 
1789, when the whole island was swayed with ter- 



A Trip to the Crater of Kilauea. 271 

rific violence by earthquakes, and great volumes 
of scoria, stones and cinders were ejected from the 
crater, that darkened the whole heavens. Another 
outbreak occurred in 1823, The earth, on this oc- 
casion, was rent in several large fissures, through 
which the lava, by the superincumbent pressure in 
the crater, spewed up in immense columns like an 
illuminated fountain, several hundred feet into the 
air, and descending, spread over a large tract of 
country in the District of Kau, finally reaching the 
sea some twenty -five miles distant. This stream of 
lava, before it reached the sea, is said to have been 
from five to eight miles in width. 

There has been no outbreak since 1868, when the 
flow undoubtedly passed off" under the sea level. 
The lava has now, as I ascertained by measure- 
ment, again risen (June, 1874) to within 120 feet 
of the level of the black ledge, and as it is very 
rapidly filling at the present time, it will soon 
again reach that level at which an outbreak is cer- 
tain to occur. Near the northeastern side and 
connecting by a channel, is a small crater (now 
extinct) called Kilauea Iki, or Little Kilauea. 



272 The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

The Eruptions of Mauna Loa, 

Although all the islands of this group are wholly 
of volcanic origin, and are pitted all over with 
craters and deep fissures, and covered with great 
streams of lava, yet to the island of Hawaii is con- 
fined exclusively present volcanic activity. Neither 
by history or tradition are we able to fix the time 
when even the great crater of Haleakala on Maui, 
apparently so recently in an eruptive state, was in 
an active condition. 

What is a little singular, and may become of 
value as a datum in dynamic geology — and may 
greatly aid in solving the perplexing problem of 
the origin of volcanic phenomena — is that the di- 
rection of increasing activity is from the northern 
to the southern end of the group. It is said upon 
the authority of careful observers that even the 
great earthquake waves that sweep through the 
islands follow the same general direction. Why 
this should be so, scientific inquiry has as yet dis- 



The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 273 

closed no good reason ; yet certain it is, and is a 
fact apparent to the most careless observer, that in 
progressing southward from the island of Kauai 
to the island of Hawaii, the evidence of more re- 
cent action becomes successively more and more 
apparent as we pass from one island to another, the 
varying ages of the several islands being thus 
shown to be almost in the inverse order of their 
distance from the most northern of the cluster. 

Not only is volcanic action at this time confined 
to the island of Hawaii alone, but it is subject to 
the further limitation of being confined to Mauna 
Loa, the most southern of the mountains on this 
island. The island might be fitly called a tri- 
mountain island, as it is completely made up of 
the three mountains Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, and 
Mauna Hualalai. Mauna Kea, the most northern, 
has never been known to be in an active state, and 
from Mauna Hualalai one eruption only — that in 
the year 1801 — is known to have occurred, which 
is said to have been of the most terrific and deso- 
lating character. This seems to have been an ex- 
haustive eifort of its internal fires, as ever since 
the mountain has been in a quiescent state. 

But it is from the terminal crater Mokuaweoweo, 
on the summit of Mauna Loa, and Kilauea as a 

85 



27 Jj- The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 



sort of side-show on the flank of this great moun- 
tain, that have sprung the grandest and most im- 
posing spectacles ever witnessed by man. I have 
referred already to a few of the eruptions of the 
latter crater, and will speak briefly of some of the 
more notable of the former. The lava in the sum- 
mit crater, like Kilauea, does not rise to the verge 
or rim of the crater and thus overflow, but finds 
escape by bursting the side of the mountain at 
varying hights above the sea. When this occurs, 
as it often does, at great depths below the summit, 
the pressure of the lava as it is ejected from the 
discharge orifice in the mountain side, forces out 
the confined mass with the greatest impetuosity, 
causing it to rush in torrents and cataracts of fire, 
with swift and certain devastation, over the coun- 
try below, until it discharges into the ocean. 

In 1843 an outbreak occurred at some distance 
below the summit, and the lava flowed down the 
northern slope in two separate streams, one west- 
ward in the direction of Kona, and the other east- 
ward toward the base of Mauna Kea. This stream 
again subdivided, one branch flowing towards Hilo 
and reaching to the distance of thirty miles from 
point of outflow. In 1855 another outbreak took 
place, a stream of unusual volume and velocity 



The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 275 

flowing to the distance of more than sixty miles. 

Of this eruption the Eev. T. Ooan says : " We 
were astir early on Saturday morning, climbing 
over indescribable hills, cones and ridges, masses 
of hot and smoking debris and scoria, scattered 
wild and wide over these Plutonic regions. We 
soon came to a line of jagged cones with open ori- 
fices of from 20 to 100 feet diameter, standing over 
the molten river and furnishing vents for its steam 
and gases. We approached the vents with awe, 
and looked down their fiery throats. We heard the 
infernal surgings and saw the mad rushing of the 
molten stream, fused to a white heat. The angle 
of descent was from 3° to 25°, and we judged the 
velocity to be forty miles an hour. The madden- 
ing stream seemed to hurry along as if on a swift 
commission from the Eternal to execute a work of 
wrath and desolation on the realms below." 

Some idea of the quantity of lava poured out 
during this eruption may be formed when it is 
stated that the stream was over 60 miles in length 
and spread out over a surface of over 300 square 
miles, or one-thirteenth of the whole area of the 
island. 

During the winter of 1859 occurred what in many 
respects was the most memorable eruption of this 



276 The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 

mountain hitherto witnessed by civilized men. As 
was the case in all former eruptions, the side of the 
mountain was split open by the pressure of the 
lava, and as it occurred at a greater distance below 
the summit than any other eruption before, the 
lava therefore flowing out of the fissure with an 
impetus due to the pressure of a higher column of 
lava within the mountain, the grandeur, terror and 
magnificence of the eruption much surpassed any 
that had previously taken place. The outburst of 
the flow in 1855 was at a hight of over 12,000 feet 
above the sea. That of the year 1859 was some 
4,000 feet lower down. It occurred on the north- 
ern slope of the mountain, and some ten miles from 
where the previous one had broken out. 

The lava on this occasion, as we are told by those 
who witnessed it, was projected upwards in glow- 
ing red columns or fountains to hights varying 
from 200 to 500 feet. Huge blocks of stone, hun- 
dreds of tons in weight, would be torn from the 
ragged edges of the fissure and carried, like a cork 
in a miniature fountain, upwards with the hissing 
stream of fused lava, and falling on the sloping 
sides of the mountain, would roll with irresistible 
force into the forests and ravines below. 

The lava stream, where it burst from the moun- 



The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 277 

tain's side, was scarcely ^ of a mile in width, but 
as it discharged with amazing velocity, the quanti- 
ty was so great that when the velocity became 
reduced, at some miles distance from the mouth of 
the fissure, it spread out in a flowing stream four 
to six miles in width. It swept along in its con- 
suming wrath, melting rocks and devouring forests 
before it, until it reached the sea at a little fishing 
village called Wainanalai — full forty miles from 
the outbreak — where it plunged in its wild fury 
into the ocean. 

The conflict that raged between the two battling 
elements as they swiftly closed in deadly strife, it 
is said was one of the most appalling character. 
As the flow rushed down upon the village during 
the night the natives had barely time to escape its 
devouring jaws as it came sweeping on, swallow- 
ing up everything in its path. It is said that when 
the hot lava dashed into the ocean, the reports of 
the suddenly expanding vapor were like discharges 
of artillery, scattering the foaming water and 
bursting fragments of lava everywhere in the 
wildest disorder. These explosions were heard to 
the distance of twenty-five miles. 

The whole village became a prey to the devour- 
ing element, and the harbor was filled up with 



278 The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 

lava as it crowded in successively overlapping folds 
farther and farther into the ocean. The Rev. Mr. 
Lyon, who witnessed this conflict of antagonistic 
elements, says : " For three successive weeks the 
volcano disgorged in uninterrupted burning 
streams, with scarcely any diminution, into the 
ocean. On either side, for twenty miles, the sea 
became heated, and with such rapidity that on the 
second day of the junction fishes came ashore dead 
in great numbers at Keau, fifteen miles distant. 
Six weeks later, at the base of the hills, the water 
continued scalding hot, and sent forth steam at 
every wash of the wave." 

The last eruption of this volcano was in 1868. 
This occurred on the southern slope of the moun- 
tain, some ten or fifteen miles around the mountain 
from Kappapala. The precise hight above the sea 
where the mountain was rent asunder has not been 
ascertained, but can be but little over 4,000 feet, 
being thus at a much lower altitude than any that 
has sprung directly from the bowels of the fire 
mountain. The orifice opened during the eruption 
was small, and can yet be distinctly seen, being 
some thirty or forty feet wide, and a few hundred 
feet long. But when we remember that there was 
a column of liquid lava nearly two miles high 




MAP SHOWING ERUPTIONS OF MAUNA LOA. 



The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 281 

forcing out of this vent, one will not marvel at its 
incredible volume as it swept onward with irresist- 
ible impetuosity, a vast burning tide, into the 
ocean. 

The hight to which the lava was thrown in blaz- 
ing jets was greater than before, reaching over 600 
feet in hight. As this flow was at such a low level, 
it was of course near the sea, and therefore but 
little damage was done, it having paled its ineffec- 
tual fires in the vain effort to boil down the waters 
of the Pacific. During the whole period of time 
covered by this eruption, the continuous mutter- 
ings of earthquakes gave forth a dull, dismal 
sound, and the whole island was kept in an inces- 
sant state of tremor and vibration. It is said that 
in one day there were over 300 distinct shocks of 
earthquakes felt in the district of Kau. 

Simultaneous with this outbreak, Kilauea deliv- 
ered the contents of its troubled stomach, the cen- 
tral basin emptying out to the depth of several 
hundred feet, but where it went to no one can tell, 
as it passed off beneath the surface, finding no 
doubt a subterranean outlet. 

Taking these eruptions collectively, the probable 
inference is that Mauna Loa is a mere hollow cone, 
encompassing a cauldron of liquid matter, the 

86 



282 The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 



thickness of the sides varying with the degree of 
heat and other modifying circumstances. It is no 
doubt true that the greater portion of the internal 
space of the mountain is in a perpetual state of 
liquidity ; and as it accumulates, rising higher and 
higher in the central perpendicular shaft, the ter- 
minal outlet of which forms the summit crater, the 
pressure upon the enclosing crust of the mountain 
becomes greater and greater, and at the same time 
by increasing volume and intensity of heat it be- 
comes thinner and weaker, until by these combined 
causes an outlet is forced at the weakest point, or 
in the direction of least resistance. 

There is another peculiarity about this mountain 
as respects the hardened lava which forms, so to 
say, its outer shell, which has an important signifi- 
cance touching a matter of which I will presently 
speak. Instead of being of solid character as its 
surface indicates, it is filled with an intricate ram- 
ification of tunnels, and huge blubbers of all 
lengths and sizes. So intimately do these enter 
into its very structure that in walking over its sur- 
face you can almost everywhere hear a sort of 
hollow drumming sound, the reverberation of the 
sound in the cavities beneath you. 

These tunnels or channels are at various depths 



The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 283 



below the surface, and covered with crusts varying 
in thickness from a few inches only to several 
feet. In passing over an apparently solid surface, 
you not unfrequently break through with an un- 
pleasant suddenness into one of these small tun- 
nels a foot or so in depth. Great numbers are to 
be found where the surface has broken through in 
great dark holes, through which you can look 
down into the cavernous depths of the earth, some- 
times to the distance of 80 to 100 feet. 

Some of these channels extend for miles, and 
have been explored to that distance without find- 
ing a terminus. They all bear evident traces of 
having once formed conduits for molten lava, as 
the interior surface has a glazed, melted appear- 
ance, and innumerable stalactites of congealed 
lava hang pendent like icicles from the roofs. 

Take it all in all, this mountain does not offer 
specially attractive inducements to investors in 
real estate, as between its earthquakes, eruptions, 
and treacherous bottom, its permanence and se- 
curity as an investment are rendered somewhat 
questionable. If luckily you should find that the 
usual nightly earthquake had left your farm right 
side up, or that it had not been irrigated by some 
eruption with a few feet of watery lava, you may 



284 The Eruptions of Mwwna Loa. 

count upon it as a moral certainty that the third 
calamity has overtaken you, and you will discover 
that your real estate has suffered a decline, has 
dropped, fallen at a ruinous rate, fallen in fact to 
the bottom of the Pacific Ocean ! 

There is one peculiarity growing out of the rela- 
tion of the crater of Kilauea to the summit crater, 
over which the resident scientists of the islands, 
as well as savants generally, have been greatly 
perplexed for a satisfactory explanation, and which 
has given rise to various theories touching their 
action, as being either separate or co-operative. 
As before stated, the crater of Kilauea, unlike all 
others, is not formed by the terminal cavity in the 
apex of a volcanic cone, but is located on the east- 
ern slope, or rather near the base of Mauna Loa, 
the gently sweeping curve of which at this point 
is scarcely to be distinguished from a level tract 
of land. 

I found by barometric measurement that the 
crater is located at a hight of 3,800 feet above the 
ocean. It has long been a matter of much specu- 
lation whether this crater and the crater of Mokua- 
weoweo on the summit be separate and independ- 
ent, or whether there is between them a correlated 
action. While the former hypothesis is rendered 



The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 285 



untenable by the physical characteristics of the 
mountain itself and the island as a whole, as well 
as by other reasons not now necessary to point 
out, the latter can scarcely be maintained upon 
grounds that can be made to harmonize with the 
known laws of physical forces. 

If the conduits through which the lava flows into 
each crater be connected, either in the body of the 
mountain itself, or at a greater depth and below 
the level of Kilauea, why does the liquid lava rise 
in the central shaft or channel to a higher level 
than the point of exit of the conduit that dis- 
charges into Kilauea ? Or as an hydraulic effect 
more familiar, why does not the fluid contents of 
the mountain pour out through the opening in the 
lower crater? If the two conduits are joined to- 
gether, or rather are the common effluents of one 
larger channel rising into the base of the moun- 
tain, the amount of unbalanced pressure resulting 
from the difference in hight of the conduit leading 
to the summit crater over that leading to Kilauea 
becomes enormous. 

As the summit crater is nearly 14,000 feet above 
the sea, and is usually filled to within 600 feet of 
the verge, and as the bottom of Kilauea is only 
3,200 feet above the same level, it follows that the 



286 The Eruptions of Mauna Lea. 

pressure due to gravity at the point where the 
conduits join is for the axial channel an amount in 
excess of that leading into Kilauea, by so much as 
would result from a column of fluid lava nearly 
two miles high. As the specific gravity of molten 
lava — water taken as unity — is about 2.4, this pres- 
sure would be something over 12,000 pounds to the 
square inch. 

Is it not somewhat remarkable, if there be a 
union of the two channels, that under such an 
amazing pressure the lava is not ejected from Ki- 
lauea with a prodigious force ; and would not this 
flow continue until the whole contents of the 
mountain was emptied down so that the lava 
would stand at the same level, or nearly so, in both 
the tubes ? This must be so, or else this substance 
forms an exception to the general laws governing 
fluids in motion. 

But in explanation of this singular phenomenon, 
Prof. Dana and others say that the point where the 
conduits unite may be at such an immense depth 
as to reduce this difi'erence in hight to relatively 
an insignificant amount. 

Let us see how much of value there is in this ex- 
planation, and for how much it can be made to 
satisfactorily account. In the utter absence of all 



The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 287 

evidence that there exists any difference in the di- 
mensions of the respective conduits, it is fair to 
presume that they are, relatively to the quantity of 
lava transmitted by each, of the same capacity. 
Any difference of pressure, therefore, necessary to 
force the lava through the veins that may exist in 
the columns at any given hight, is referable solely 
to the difference in friction by reason of one chan- 
nel being of greater length than the other. It is 
certainly an evident truth that under these condi- 
tions the force that propels the lava through one 
channel would force it to the same distance in the 
other also, leaving the hydrostatic pressure as 
completely unbalanced as though the tubes were 
relatively short. 

Assuming therefore, what is highly probable, 
that the central or axial conduit is the perpendicu- 
lar or most direct, and that leading into Kilauea is 
merely an offshoot or lateral branch, it follows that 
the difference in pressure, at the point of discharge 
in Kilauea and in the central shaft at the same 
level above the sea, is due solely to the retardation 
in flow of lava resulting from the excess in length 
of the former over the latter. That difference to 
be attributed as a consequence to variation in form 
or degree of sinuosity need not here be considered, 



288 The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 

as the check to the flow in either from this cause 
would be comparatively so small as to make this 
an element of but little import. 

The distance in a direct horizontal line from the 
crater of Kilauea to the axis of the mountain can 
not be greater than twenty miles. Let us assume 
for the purpose of illustration that the point 
where junction of the two conduits occurs is at a 
perpendicular depth below the level of Kilauea 
equal to the horizontal distance from Kilauea to 
the center of the mountain, as under this assump- 
tion the greatest possible difference in length will 
be produced — it being a familiar geometrical truth 
that the greater the ratio of the perpendicular to 
the base, the less becomes that of the base to the 
hypothenuse. 

Under this hypothesis, we would get for the con- 
duit supplying Kilauea a length five miles greater 
than that which supplies the summit crater. We 
are therefore driven to conclude that this vast su- 
perincumbent pressure of over 12,000 pounds per 
square inch, represented by the difference in the 
perpendicular hight of the two columns, is all con- 
sumed in overcoming the friction in 5 miles of vol- 
canic tube necessary to impart that velocity with 
which the lava passes into the crater of Kilauea. 



The Eruptions of Mawna Loa. 289 

Let us determine what this velocity may be, in 
order to at least proximately apply those laws of 
hydraulics from which in other flowing liquids we 
are enabled to deduce precise and accurate data. 
As the recurrent periods of eruption average about 
^ien years for Kilauea, and as the quantity that 
flows out each time is that which is contained in a 
space about two miles in diameter and from 400 to 
500 feet in depth, it follows that there is 25,000,- 
000,000 cubic feet discharged into the crater during 
the lapse of ten years. This will give very near 
80 cubic feet per second as a continuous uninter- 
rupted flow. The average area of cross-section of 
the large number of tunnels I have observed 
would not be much less than fifty square feet, 
many of them far greater and few less. Assuming 
that the conduit in question was only six feet in 
diameter, this would give a velocity of only about 
three feet per second. 

Now the formula d=(^)^ -78, when applied to 
determine the amount of pressure necessary to 
overcome the friction of water flowing through 
pipes, would give, for the values in the present 
case d and v, as the requisite pressure about 330 
pounds per square inch, corresponding to a hight 
T)f 760 feet. Allowing for the greater density and 
37 



290 The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 



somewhat less mobility of molten lava, a hight of 
1500 feet would certainly be quite ample. This 
would leave a column of more than 9000 feet in 
hight, the pressure of which would be brought di- 
rectly to bear and wholly utilized to eject the 
lava from the mouth of the conduit opening into 
Kilauea. 

Deducing from the same formula (with the cor- 
rections allowed for density &c.) a value in terms 
of area in cross section of channel, we find that a 
tube of four square feet transverse area would be 
quite sufficient to pass the quantity given under 
the pressure that actually exists. This small area 
cannot be regarded as consistent with the fact 
that, for centuries perhaps, the enclosing walls of 
this lava tunnel served to conduct a liquid that re- 
duces solid rock like wax, and yet did not become 
enlarged to a material degree. 

That a violent ejectment of lava should result 
from the great pressure of the central column is 
abundantly proven by the eruption of 1868, on 
which occasion it was forced in perpendicular col- 
umns hundreds of feet in the air ; and this, too, 
occurred at a point quite as remote as Kilauea 
from the geometrical center of Mauna Loa. In 
explanation of this mystery, and in accordance, I 



The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 293 

believe, with observed facts, I would suggest that 
instead of a communication between the two cra- 
ters existing below the level of Kilauea, the point 
of communication lies near the summit of Mauna 
Loa, and that instead of a small channel in which 
the lava is confined under pressure throughout its 
entire length, it is similar to those everywhere to 
be met with on the mountain, which are of a size 
so large that only a small part of the area would be 
filled. 

The lava thus flowing out of the side of the sum- 
mit crater into a tunnel much larger than would 
be required to carry it, were it forced through by 
pressure, would therefore flow down by its gravity 
simply, in a stream similar to that which flows over 
the surface during an eruption. Descending to 
near the lower -crater, it would accumulate in a 
pool, which would according to existing conditions 
and circumstances acquire more or less head, forc- 
ing it into the crater under a greater or less pres- 
sure, according as the lava may have accumulated 
in the tunnel above. This would account for the 
intermittent activity so curiously displayed by the 
crater, which can scarcely be explained upon the 
hypothesis of a connection with the axial channel 
at a level below its own crater. 



294 The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 

It is a characteristic of the mode of its activity 
fully made familiar by observation that it is ex- 
tremely irregular, remaining at times for days and 
weeks together in an almost quiescent state, when 
the flow of lava into the crater is almost imper- 
ceptible in amount ; and then again, suddenly — as 
in the case we were so fortunate as to witness — 
millions of tons are poured out in the space of a 
few hours. This extreme variability in quantity of 
discharge I conceive to be wholly irreconcilable 
with the flow of a liquid (however viscid) through 
any form or size of duct, under a pressure of over 
12,000 pounds to the square inch. 

It however becomes a perfectly natural result, 
and consistent with the facts shown by observa- 
tion under the assumption of a supplementary 
tunnel, extending, at some distance below the sur- 
face, upwards along the slope of the mountain, 
and entering into the cavity in the terminal crater 
near the summit. 

The lava so flowing down in a regular stream 
might accumulate in an enlarged cavity at or ne^r 
Kilauea for days or even weeks — checked in its 
final exit into the crater until a suflicient pressure 
would be produced to force a passage, when the 
whole mass would suddenly discharge into the 



The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 29S 



lake and thence into the main basin. 

If a channel of communication really existed 
below the level of Kilauea, and of a size so dimin- 
utive as pointed out, would it not be a most natur- 
al result that the passage would quickly become 
greatly enlarged by the continuous transmission, 
year by year, of millions of tons of fluid lava, heated 
to the fiercest intensity ? Under a pressure so great, 
the flow would be of the most regular character 
instead of irregular, as is really the case, since it is 
incredible that any possible obstruction could in- 
terpose, more than a momentary check, to the 
flow of lava propelled by so great an initial pres- 
sure. 

This continuous flow of liquid substance, fervid 
in the freshness of its heat from the earth's great 
central furnace, would by degrees melt away the 
enclosing walls, enlarging by rapid increments the 
channel, so that the whole efflux of matter would 
take place at the lower crater, as fluids do not seek 
the highest but lowest level as points of discharge. 

But the theory of action here presented rests 
not merely upon assumption, but receives strong 
confirmation in the facts revealed during many of 
the eruptions of both Kilauea and the summit era 
ter. The Rev. Mr. Coan, a most careful observer. 



296 The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 

and more familiar, perhaps, with volcanic phenom- 
ena than any one on these islands, speaks of a 
peculiarity he observed in one eruption witnessed 
by him. The stream of lava which on this occasion 
burst from the side of the mountain near the sum- 
mit, flowed down the mountain in a great river for 
Several thousand feet in the usual manner, when 
it suddenly disembouged into a tunnel, entirely 
disappearing, and flowed in an underground cur- 
rent, where no one knew, as it did not reappear 
above the surface, finding in all probability a final 
exit under the surface of the sea. 

During the eruption of Kilauea in 1868, when 
the lava was emptied out several hundred feet, the 
openings of several tunnels were revealed, which 
before the eruption were below the surface of the 
lava in the crater, and through which it flowed out 
atlhat time. There is no doubt that there is also 
a continuous flow of lava from Kilauea through 
subterraneous channels. This may explain the 
origin of a long line of steam and gas jets that can 
be seen extending many miles eastward to the 
ocean, bearing strong evidence of fires below. 

But the ready objection to the theory here pre- 
sented, and one at once suggested by Prof. Dana, 
ill conversation with him, is that the existence of 



The Eruptions of Manna Loa. 297 



such a channel would cause a reduction in the 
strength of the mountain's crust, making the di- 
rection of the tunnel the line of least strength 
also, so that the eruptions of Mauna Loa would 
always be in the direction of least resistance, or 
that traversed by the tunnel. 

This objection is readily disposed of when we 
consider what a small part, relatively, of the solid 
crust would be occupied by the vacant space of a 
channel which would be of abundant size to con- 
vey the quantity of lava which daily flows into 
Kilauea. This quantity, we have shown, is an av- 
erage of about 80 cubic feet per second. Allowing 
the very moderate velocity of ten feet per second 
for the rate at which the lava would descend of its 
own gravity down a steep declivity, this would 
give only eight square feet transverse area in a 
tube of sufficient capacity to carry the quantity 
named. Therefore a tunnel only ten feet in diam- 
eter would give over nine times the necessary ca- 
pacity to transmit that quantity. In contrasting 
this small size with the thousands of feet of prob- 
able thickness in the shell of the mountain, it 
will be seen that the supposed reduction of 
strength becomes infinitesimal in degree, and may 
be more than counterbalanced in its effects in 

38 



298 The Eruptions of Mauna Loa. 

other parts of the mountain by causes which may 
operate to produce greater local reduction of 
strength. 



The Origin of Volcanic Heat. 299 



CHAPTER XVII. 
The Origin of Volcanic Heat. 

From contemplating the evidences, the wonder- 
ing mind naturally and inquiringly turns in eager 
search for the causes by which effects so vast and 
marvelous are produced. Whence all this heat — 
a heat no less wonderful in intensity than in quan- 
tity? What is its source, and by what agency is it 
generated? Such have been the inquiries ad- 
dressed not only to the mind of the scientific inves- 
tigator, but to the simple child of nature, for ages. 
Happily, the fast spreading boundaries of cosmic 
knowledge, which successively includes in the 
circling sweep of its expanding waves larger and 
more general truths, has at last enabled us to sat- 
isfactorily answer these questions. 

Although the real source of the heat displayed 
by volcanic action is settled upon principles the 
scientific accuracy of which scarcely admits of a 
doubt, yet there are many who still hold to theo- 
ries no longer to be reconciled with the broader 



300 The Origin of Volcanic Heat. 

and more recent generalizations of the laws of 
physical forces. Of the agencies possible and ad- 
equate to develop volcanic phenomena, there are 
only three, viz.: that due to combustion, which 
may be called chemical agency; that due to me- 
chanical effect; and lastly, the theory of internal 
fluidity of the earth. 

Let us examine briefly each separately, and see 
with what force they respectively commend them- 
selves to our minds. We will not in this inquiry 
extend our investigations to cover volcanoes in 
general, but confine our inductions to the facts 
drawn from the Hawaiian group and from our own 
observations of Kilauea and the summit crater. 

We will not consider here the very strong objec- 
tions which might inferentially be established 
against the first theory by reason of the fact, ob- 
served by all who have visited the burning lake in 
Kilauea, that there is no flame — no combustion — 
no sudden burning of imperfectly consumed gases 
as they come in contact with the air — no indication 
of present chemical action — nothing but the clear 
fluid rock, poured out fresh from the great internal 
crucible in which it was fused. Taking no note of 
these, together with the further objection that may 
be urged by reason of the difficulties of maintain- 



The Origin of Volcanic Heat. 301 

ing combustion under the ocean, we will examine 
and see whether even under the assumption of 
possible perfect combustion, the facts observed 
can be accounted for. 

If the heat is developed by present and constant 
forces within or below the base of the mountain, 
it is of course maintained only by the continuous 
consumption of those elements which in their chem- 
ical union give it off. Whether it be possible to 
provide enough of this combustible material within 
the limited area comprised by these islands will 
depend wholly upon the quantity necessary to pro- 
duce the heat that has fused such infinite masses 
of refractory substance. 

As it is by the union of oxygen with various 
chemical elements that the largest amount of heat, 
and the intensest heat, is produced, we will con- 
sider this in our present inquiry as the heat-pro- 
ducing agent. The calorific values of the various 
substances uniting with this element are about as 
follows : for hydrogen, 62,032 units of heat ; marsh 
gas, 28,515 units ; stone coal, 13,720, and for sulphur 
4,070 units. That is to say, the chemical combina- 
tion of one pound of either of these substances 
with its proper equivalent of oxygen, would devel- 
op the number of units of heat stated. 



302 The Origin of Volcanic Heat. 

By a unit of heat is to be understood that amount 
of energy developed which would raise the tem- 
perature of a single pound of water one degree 
Fahrenheit. That is, when one pound of hydrogen 
unites with a proper quantity of oxygen, the total 
heat evolved would be in amount equal to that 
which would raise 62,032 pounds of water one de- 
gree Fahrenheit ; for one pound of stone coal 13,720 
pounds of water one degree — and so on. This is 
the standard by which the absolute calorific energy 
produced by the chemical union of various sub- 
stances is measured. This amount is constant and 
invariable, and is not dependent upon the degree 
of rapidity or slowness with which the union takes 
place, and is irrespective of intensity. 

As it is impossible that a space adequate to con- 
tain the necessary amount of hydrogen gas should 
exist under these islands, we will look to the next 
highest source of heat among the solids — that is, 
carbon or stone coal. In a theoretically perfect 
combustion it requires 2.66 pounds of oxygen to 
each pound of coal. When consumed under con- 
ditions where the supply of oxygen is drawn from 
the atmosphere, it requires that which is contained 
in 12 pounds of air to completely consume one 
pound of coal. Now it must be confessed that it is 



The Origin of Volcanic Beat. 303 

a liberal concession to this theory to admit the 
possibility of a requisite supply of unmixed oxygen 
at so great a depth and under the ocean. But to 
enable us to test the value of this theory, we will 
grant this, and even more, viz. : that the conditions 
of perfect combustion exist, and where the supply 
of oxygen is drawn from a source not in a state of 
mechanical or other combination with any other 
substance. 

It is a well known fact that the temperature of 
different substances varies greatly, even when the 
amount of heat communicated is the same. This 
arises from the atomic structure of bodies, varying 
in which respect varies also in a corresponding 
manner the absolute amount of heat they are ca- 
pable of containing. This is what is called, in the 
science of thermology, the specific heat of bodies. 
As before, in order to secure a uniform standard of 
measure, the heat unit is adopted. As water, of 
all substances except hydrogen, contains the larg- 
est amount of heat, or, as would be said, has the 
greatest specific heat, this is adopted as a compar- 
ative standard. 

For the products of combustion — carbonic acid 
— we find for this value that its specific heat is .216, 
that is a little over one-fifth of water. In other 



SOJj. The Origin of Volcanic Heat. 

words, an amount of heat that would raise the 
temperature of one pound of carbonic acid five de- 
grees Fahrenheit would raise the same quantity of 
water a little more than one degree. The specific 
heat of molten lava is substantially the same as 
that of carbonic acid, and its indicated temperature 
cannot be less than 3,000 degrees. As the products 
of combustion and the liquid lava are commingled 
in the process of fusion, it follows that they are of 
the same degree of temperature. 

Now, as in the perfect burning of one pound of 
coal there is consumed 2.66 pounds of oxygen, there 
results as an aggregate product 3.66 pounds of car- 
bonic acid gas. This, in the case under considera- 
tion, would have a temperature of 3,000 degrees. 
Were the specific heat of this gas equal to that of 
water, then at this temperature it would contain 
3,000 units of heat ; but as it is only .216, the abso- 
lute amount of heat will be only a little over one- 
fifth. Therefore 3,000x.216x3.66=2,371=the number 
of units of heat contained in the products of com- 
bustion at an indicated temperature of 3,000 de- 
grees, resulting from the burning of one pound of 
coal. 

As before stated, there are 13,720 units of heat 
developed, as the total theoretic calorific energy, 



The Origin of Volcanic Heat. 305 

by one pound of coal completely consumed. De- 
ducting the 2,371 units from this number, we have 
11,349 units, as a residue to be wholly expended in 
the fusion of lava. As before stated, both the in- 
dicated temperature and the specific heat of lava 
being substantially the same as that of the gas by 
which it was melted, therefore 11,3494 3,000-^- .216 
^17.5=the number of pounds of indurated lava 
that could be melted by the theoretical heat pro- 
duced by the burning of one pound of coal. 

In before speaking of the probable origin of 
these islands (in the chapter entitled "Topography 
of the Pacific") I had occasion to point out the 
extraordinary declivity of this mountain range, 
when compared with that standard unit of angular 
inclination to be deduced from the various systems 
of mountain ranges when taken as an aggregate. 
From this the conclusion seems warranted that a 
hight of 13,000 feet was only possible and due to 
the usual geological agencies which have elevated 
the earth's surface into mountain ranges, and the 
remaining hight was the result of accumulated 
over-flow of lava. 

As the superficial area of the islands is 6,000 
square miles, the material projecting above water 
level would be quite sufficient, if uniformly distrib- 

39 



306 The Origin of Volcanic Beat. 

uted between the islands — as the water is compar- 
atively shallow — to produce an additional area at 
the level of the ocean of an equal amount. We 
would have then — not computing the contents of a 
truncated cone the base of which was twice the 
breadth of the apex — 12,000 cubic miles of melted 
matter which in long ages past has been dis- 
charged to build up these islands. 

The numbers 1,290 and 1,820 stand respectively 
for the specific gravities of coal and lava. By this 
ratio we find that in order to produce heat in 
amount sufficient to fuse 12,000 cubic miles of lava, 
it would require the complete combustion of some- 
thing more than 1,000 cubic miles of solid coal, or 
over four times the aggregate amount contained in 
all the coal fields of the United States. This quanti- 
ty, if distributed in strata of the average thickness 
of coal veins throughout the carboniferous forma- 
tion, would cover an area of nearly 1,000,000 square 
miles, or a surface more than double the sub-ma- 
rine basic area of this group of mountain islands. 

Allowing for the • withdrawal of the oxygen 
which entered into combination with this amount 
of coal, there would be, as a total displacement of 
material substance, an amount exceeding 15,000 
cubic miles. That is to say, there would be left as 



The Origin of Volcanic Meat. 307 

a cavity, in consequence of this displacement, a 
space two miles in depth and nearly twenty miles 
wide, extending in a longitudinal line from one 
end of the group to the other, or a distance of 
nearly 400 miles. The transposition of so large a 
mass of material as represented by such a cavity 
can scarcely be made to harmonize with the build- 
ing up of a mountain range whose angular inclina- 
tion far exceeds any terrestrial range known. 

Even were we to compute the amount of coal 
required, upon the basis of the actual amount of 
material that extends above the water line, the 
quantity would be that which by the ordinary 
ratio of distribution would cover an area of over 
600 square miles, and the size of subterranean 
cavity caused by this displacement would be that 
occupied by a space one mile square and 300 miles 
in length.. If therefore the heat necessary to pro- 
duce the effects to be observed had had its origin 
in the source now under consideration, the subsi- 
dence caused by so great a displacement of mate- 
rial would constantly exceed by one-fourth the 
increased hight due to the outflowing lava, so that 
instead of the elevation being even that caused by 
the upheaval of the earth's crust, it would be much 
less, rendering it impossible for the summit of this 



308 The Origin of Volcanic Heat. 



sub-marine mountain range to approach within 
several thousand feet of the surface of the ocean. 

The origin of the heat as a mechanicaJ eifect ac- 
counted for by the second theory is based upon 
that grandest of all generalizations of modern sci- 
ence, the law of correllation and conservation of 
energy. To aid in an intelligible understanding of 
the application of this law to the solution of the 
question, it may be well to briefly glance at the 
leading principles embodied in this generalization. 
Before the development of those scientific truths 
that established the quantitative invariability of 
matter, there was commonly held, with the current 
belief that matter was subject, quantitatively and 
qualitatively, to the caprices of special agencies, 
creative and destructive, coexistent with the phe- 
nomena manifested by it, that kindred belief also 
in the mysterious nature of force, respecting its 
origin and continuity. Gradually there arose the 
belief in the indestructibility of matter, and in 
due time the essential postulate that force itself, 
the ever present and sensible manifestation of 
matter, was also indestructible. 

It was but a rapid and easy step from this to the 
corollary that the various modes of force, before 
recognized as essentially different and discrete, 



The Origin of Volcanic Heat. 309 



were in fact but correlatives of each other, suscep- 
tible by transmutation of being reduced to quanti- 
tative equivalents. Thus it is that light, heat, 
electricity, and other manifestations of energy, 
while in their general characteristics and outward 
evidences differing greatly, are come to be re- 
garded correlates, and traceable to that one com- 
•mon origin, motion. As heat, or molecular motion, 
is convertible into molar motion — or motion of 
mass — as in the case of the projection of a cannon 
ball, so, conversely, is the motion of the mass con- 
vertible into atomic motion, or heat. 

This law being once established, it became ne- 
cessary to adopt some standard, or unit, to which 
all modes of energy could for comparative purposes 
become reducible. The foot pound, or unit of 
mechanical equivalent of heat, provides a univer- 
sal commensurable standard. "What is meant by 
the term " foot pound " is the amount of energy or 
power requisite to raise one pound weight one foot 
high. It is found by experiment that 772 foot 
pounds is an equivalent for one thermal unit. That 
is, the amount of heat necessary to raise one 
pound of water one degree Fahrenheit, would be 
also able to exert a force sufficient to raise 772 
pounds one foot high, or one pound 772 feet high. 



310 The Origin of Volcanic Heat. 

This will be better understood when it is stated 
that if one pound of water fell by gravity, free and 
unobstructed, through a distance of 772 feet, and 
the entire momentum of the mass, so acquired, 
were consumed in giving motion to the atoms com- 
posing it, the temperature of the water would be 
raised one degree. A familiar analogy will be 
found in the heating of a projectile when fired 
against a metallic plate. 

This relation of mechanical effect to heat being 
definitely determined, it only remains to find the 
specific heat of any substance in order to know the 
hight through which it would have to fall, so that 
there would be developed in its mass the number 
of thermal units represented by its sensible tem- 
perature. 

Heat is developed as an equivalent for mechan- 
ical energy not only by concussion of moving 
masses, but also by friction ; yet diff"erent as may 
seem the two processes, the increased calorific in- 
tensity of bodies is due to the same identical pri- 
mary cause in cases both of concussion and friction, 
viz., the vibratory motion of the atoms composing 
the mass. In the case of the conversion of molar 
motion into heat, the lineal visual motion of the 
mass is directly changed into invisible vibratory 



The Origin of Volcanic Heat. 311 

motion of the atoms. In the case of friction, the 
pressure of the whole mass, concentrated upon a 
limited portion of its substance, disturbs that per- 
fect balance of cohesive and repellant force, forc- 
ing the atoms within or beyond that neutral limit 
where an equal and opposing intensity gives the 
property of solidity and stability to matter in its 
normal state. 

When there occurs, as in the case of friction of 
surfaces, sudden liberation of atoms so pressed 
within or drawn without this neutral line, the pre- 
ponderating repulsion in the one case, or the attrac- 
tion in the other, will impart a rapid motion to the 
molecules, which by virtue of an acquired momen- 
tum will carry them beyond or within the sphere 
of the two equilibrated forces, causing thus a suc- 
cession of rapid vibrations of the atoms, which 
gives rise to the sensation called heat. 

It is by this law of transmutation of mechanical 
energy into heat that many scientists seek to ac- 
count for the origin of volcanic heat. As the crust 
of the earth is believed to be constantly approach- 
ing nearer to its center by reason of the supposed 
contraction in its volume, it is thought by the ad- 
vocates of this theory that the force so represented, 
if converted into heat, would develop a sufficient 



312 The Origin of Volcanic Heat. 

amount of this form of energy to produce all the 
calorific effects observed in volcanic action. 

Let us see whether by the data of thermology, 
combined with those of observation, the results 
can be sustained which are claimed by the parti- 
sans of this theory. We have already taken the 
indicated temperature of fused lava as 3,000 de- 
grees, and its specific heat at ,216. Now in the 
conversion of mechanical energy into heat, were 
it possible to raise the temperature of water to 
3,000 degrees, we would find that in order to ac- 
quire this temperature, it would have to fall 
through a hight of 772 feet multiplied by 3,000— 
2,316,000 feet, or over 400 miles. 

But the specific heat of lava being little more 
than one-fifth that of water, the same number of 
thermal units contained in an equal weight of this 
substance would indicate nearly five times the 
sensible temperature. Conversely, in order to ex- 
hibit the same — or 3,000 degrees of heat — it would 
be necessary to fall through that distance which 
would be an equivalent in foot pounds for one fifth 
the specific heat of water. We have found that the 
number of heat units contained in one pound of 
lava, at 3,000 degrees, was 648 ; therefore 648x772= 
500,256 feet, or nearly 100 miles, which is the dis- 



The Oidgin of Volcanic Heat. 313 

tance through which any giyen quantity of lava 
would be required to fall to increase its tempera- 
ture 3,000 degrees. 

That is to say : if the heat has its origin in this 
source, the whole mass which has been in a melted 
state would under this theory have fallen through 
a distance of nearly 100 miles, in order to bring it 
to that temperature at which it melts. Even al- 
lowing the possibility of a concentration within a 
limited space of heat developed by the falling of a 
mass fifty times as great as that of the solid con- 
tents of the whole group (and this is impossible, in 
view of the flexure of the earth's crust) it would 
even then require, to produce the effect, the subsi- 
dence through the distance of several miles of 
an area exceeding by many times the combined 
area of all the islands. 

Nor would the result be in any way different if 
instead of concussion it were claimed that the heat 
was generated by friction ; since simple pressure 
without motion produces no form of energy, and 
consequently no heat. This decline in the earth's 
crust, necessitated by the theory, cannot be har- 
monized with the existence in the same precise 
locality of the most abrupt upheaval known on the 
globe. 

40 



314 The Origin of Volcanic Heat. 

It is therefore to the internal fluidity of the earth 
that we must look for the only adequate agency 
by which volcanic phenomena can be produced. 
By a gradual reduction of the earth's temperature, 
caused by the incessant efflux of radiant heat from 
its surface, the solid crust of the earth grows thick- 
er year by year. The contraction as a result of this 
decrease in temperature gives rise to unequal dis- 
tribution of pressure, causing the lifting up of the 
earth's surface in some places, and in others a de- 
pression perhaps to some extent. This continuous 
and powerful contraction of the solid enveloping 
shell of the earth not only produces flexures, but 
must cause in many places profound fractures also, 
extending no doubt to the molten mass within. 

Along the line of these fissures, which would 
naturally occur at the most elevated part of the 
upheaved area, would undoubtedly be located the 
various outlets from which volcanic cones are built 
up. From the unequal reduction of temperature 
there occurs an unequal contraction also, as be- 
tween that portion of the earth's mass near the 
surface, and that portion more closely approaching 
the molten interior. This would have the efi'ect to 
cause a pressure upon the liquid matter within, 
which would thus be forced upwards through the 



The Origin of Tolcanic Meat. 315 

fissures with greater or less pressure, according to 
the degree of inequality in the contraction of the 
inner and outer mass. 

For the displacement of the 12,000 cubic miles 
which we have taken as a proximate estimate of 
the solid volcanic contents of the islands, a reduc- 
tion of the earth's diameter by only 8 inches would 
be required. Let us pursue this idea one step far- 
ther, in order to show the utter inadequacy of the 
theory of mechanical energy to account for the 
igneous action of volcanoes. 

Taking the solid portion of the earth at fifty 
miles thickness (about that assigned by 'scientists) 
we would have fallmg towards the center of the 
earth through the distance of four inches — in order 
to displace the amount of molten matter stated — 
9,600,000,000 cubic miles of solid matter. This 
mass falling through the distance of four inches 
would develop an energy sufficient in amount, if 
converted into its equivalent of heat, to raise the 
temperature of the whole mass less than one four- 
hundredth of a degree Fahrenheit, taking its aver- 
age specific heat at .216, the same as that of lava. 

If this total amount of heat was conceived to be 
concentrated into 12,000 cubic miles of lava, the 
temperature would become 2,000 degrees, since the 



316 The Oj'igin of Volcanic Heat. 



intensity increases in the direct ratio of decreased 
volume and as in the case assumed the mass be- 
comes reduced to ^^^ of the volume, the tempera- 
ture would be increased also 800,000 times, or to 
the degree stated. Thus we see if the total theo- 
retical quantity of mechanical force represented 
by that amount of contraction of the entire solid 
portion of the earth necessary to displace 12,000 
cubic miles of liquid matter were concentrated in 
the latter mass, it would fall short by 1,000 degrees 
of producing the heat actually existing. 



Trip to the Crater of Mohuaweoiveo. 317 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Trip to the Crater op Mokuaweoweo. 

There are some experiences of our lives that are 
so completely satisfying that we do not care to 
have them repeated, even though we were to live 
to the age of Methuselah. Such was our trip to 
the summit of Mauna Loa. This is a journey of 
indescribable hardship, fatigue and danger, and is 
one very seldom taken by the islanders themselves, 
and never, I believe by tourists. The summit of 
this mountain has been visited only six times 
altogether, and when it is remembered that there 
is on the summit the iinest volcanic display in the 
world to reward the toil of the ascent, some idea 
of the difficulties that are in the way may be 
formed from the few times it has been visited. 

This is therefore a comparatively new field for 
the traveler and we were somewhat ambitious to 
achieve distinction as bold volcanic explorers. I 
don't feel that way now. My ambition is satisfied 
and nothing short of an attempt of Mauna Loa to 



318 Trip to the Crater of Mohuaweoweo. 

disembowel itself would tempt me to return to its 
dreary, solitary summit. Commodore Wilkes, of 
the United States expedition, is supposed to have 
been the first to make the ascent. He was, I be- 
lieve, sent out by the United States government to 
make a survey of the island in 1840. He, there- 
fore, prepared himself for this expedition in the 
most complete manner. Besides the ordinary 
equipments provided by the government, he took 
with him several hundred natives as guides, ser- 
vants &c. 

The terrible accounts which he has given of 
the hardships endured, the number of natives that 
perished from cold and mountain sickness, was not 
calculated to strengthen us in our resolution. But 
as so little is known about the summit crater, and 
as there exists a need of more definite information 
concerning its dimensions and general characteris- 
tics, we felt that if we could supply this to the 
world it would be something of a scientific achieve- 
ment. 

This was an added inducement to the ordinary 
desire to gratify the spirit of adventure. We were 
told at Honolulu that an accurate survey of the 
crater was much desired, as some dissatisfaction 
existed as to Wilkes's measurements, the accuracy 



Trip to the Crater of MoJcuaweoweo. 319 

of which were doubted, as he is said to have ob- 
tained his base line by sound. When we announced 
our intention to make the ascent we were usually 
met with a smile of incredulity — a kind of " Try it 
and you will see !" expression of countenance. 
Some thought that if it was in September we would 
stand a better chance, as the snow would not then 
oflfer the impediment that it did in the month of 
June. 

At Hilo we mentioned our design to Mr. 
Reede, within whose ample ranche this portion of 
the mountain is included. Upon inquiry whether 
he had ever been to the summit, he replied that 
" he had lived there for forty years within twenty 
miles of the summit, and he had never went to the 
top, and if the Lord spared him, he hoped he never 
would go." This was anything but. encouraging, 
but as the true American never backs down from 
a job he has undertaken, we concluded to put it 
through. 

Sending one of our guides, with tents, &c., 
direct to Ainapo, the point of departure, we 
went to Kappapala, some fifteen miles further to 
the south, where we left Mrs. B. until our return. 
To our great delight we found here awaiting our 
coming two young gentlemen, Messrs. John Lyd- 



S20 Trip to the Crater of Mokuazueoweo^ 

gate and William Shipman, residents of Kappapa- 
la. They had heard of our coming and intended 
ascent of the mountain, and concluded to join us. 
This was especially fortunate, as Mr. Lydgate is a 
gentleman of scientific attainments, and also added 
to our outfit valuable instruments for use on the 
summit. 

At Ainapo we met a half-caste — a Mr. Henry 
Gandol — a veritable Hawaiian Kit Carson, of whom 
many marvelous stories of adventure are told. As 
he is more familiar with these wild mountain re- 
gions than any one else on the island, we finally 
induced him to accompany us as a further precau- 
tion for safety. Our first day's journey brought us 
to the limits of vegetation, near 7,000 feet above 
the ocean. Here we encamped for the night. 

Early next morning we continued the ascent. We 
soon left behind us every vestige of vegetation, and 
found ourselves in an interminable sea of barren 
lava rising in great billowy masses, towering one 
above the other in the direction of the summit. 
We painfully and slowly mounted upwards over 
the steep craggy ridges that joined one another in 
endless succession. Immense blubbers of lava 
stretched their thin treacherous shells across our 
path, through which our horses would often break. 




L 













'11 






■ I* 



ill 




O 
W 

o 
w 

o 

o 
w 

h 

<J 

o 



Trip to the Crater of Mohuaiveoweo. 323 

lacerating their legs and splintering their hoofs so 
that their legs were soon bathed by the freely 
flowing blood in a crimson gore. 

At the hight of 12,000 feet we came to the lim- 
its of perpetual snow. Here in the gorges and low 
spots the snow was drifted in immense ridges and 
banks. It was a strange sight to see in the tropics, 
right under a vertical sun, fields of snow acres in 
extent reflecting from their chilling surface the 
clear rays of the sun with a dazzling brilliancy. 
We were much troubled at first by these drifts of 
snow, as our animals, having never before seen so 
strange a sight, took fright at their near approach 
to them, nor could the vigorous use of Mexican 
spurs, big as saucers, induce them to go near it. 

This was a serious matter, as it compelled us to 
cross immense ridges of lava, which are well nigh 
impassable. Finally, by much urging and some 
familiarity, our horses at last ventured upon the 
snow, it being dense and firm enough to support 
their weight. Some two or three miles distant from 
the crater the incline is very gradual, the summit 
being in reality an immense dome of gentle curva- 
ture. Here the mountain forms its own horizon, 
and the entire world is shut out, not even the wide 
expanse of ocean being visible. This was desola- 



32J/. Trip to the Crater of MoJcuaweoweo. 

lion and solitude complete. The sky being clear, 
not a cloud was to be seen. Even the belt of clouds 
that continually wreathe the mountain half way up 
was shut out. 

There was absolutely not a living thing on the 
earth or in the air, not a spear of grass or even the 
hum of an insect to relieve the dreadful, oppress- 
ive solitude. Nothing but a wide, weary waste of 
" pahoehoe " lava around us, with the clear blue 
dome of the sky shutting down upon us. The 
sense of isolation was terrible. I almost felt that 
even a flea bite would be a relief, as it would have 
given at least the comforting assurance that the 
world had not withered up, and all animate nature 
had not become extinct. We at last reached the 
crater and camped on its very verge. Our hight 
was now over 14,000 feet. At first we did not feel 
much discomfort from the rarefied air, and except 
that we could not exert ourselves for but a few 
minutes at a time without becoming exhausted, we 
would not have realized that we were at such an 
immense hight. 

While the Professor was busy selecting points of 
observation, Mr. Lydgate and myself carefully 
measured our base line. This we did along the 
very edge of the crater, which descended in a per- 



Trip to the Crater of Mokuaweoweo. 327 

pendicular wall nearly 800 feet. We measured a 
base line of 1,876 feet. From this we took 22 dif- 
ferent angles, both horizontal and vertical. 

The following are the angular measurements of 
the crater, taken by Mr. Lydgate and Prof.Geiger: 



Angles from S. Base N. 


Angles from N. Base S. 


North Base 


0° 0^ 




South Base 


0° 


0' 


h 


26° 0' 




P 


8° 


49' 


8 


30° by 




X 


15° 


50' 


or 


33° 04' 




y 


20° 


53' 


f 


51° 0' 




a 


35° 


45' 


e 


68° 40' 


East 


end of lake 


38° 


51' 


d 


86° 0' 


West 


end of lake 


40° 


56' 


c 


114° 42' 




b 


50° 


35' 


b 


118° 37' 




(' 


54° 


30' 


West end of lake 


128° 20' 




d 


81° 


25' 


East end of lake 


134° 45' 




e 


97° 


45' 


a 


137° 0' 




f 


117° 


15' 


V 


137° 37' 




g 


137° 


27' 


y 


154° 46' 




h 


146° 


0' 


X 


160° 40' 




s N 


. 29° 


30' W. 



p 168° 40' 

Elevation of west wall; angle at N. Base d 2° 34'; distance 
8,590 ft. from N. Base and 8,514 from S. Base. 

I now began to feel the effects of our altitude. 
My pulse quickly ran up to a frightful pitch and 
beat a lively tattoo of over 160 per minute. About 
sundown we were all seized with an intense head- 
ache, and the entire party quickly became very 
sick. We all threw up as lively as though on a 



328 Trip to the Crater of Molcuaweoweo^ 

vessel in a storm, and altogether suffered all the 
horrors of sea-sickness. 

As our camp was located on the very rim of 
the crater, we could look directly down upon the 
very lake below. It is much more active than 
Kilauea, never for an instant ceasing its flux and 
reflux of molten lava, which was white hot through- 
out its entire surface. It was quite as liquid as 
water, immense waves circling outwards and dash- 
ing against its enclosing walls, whenever an unu- 
sual upheaval in the center occurred. There were 
many fountains throwing up their livid spray from 
50 to 100 feet high, descending with a splash into 
the moving mass beneath. There were hun- 
dreds of little jets popping up and down incessant- 
ly around and among the larger columns. The 
whole looked as if the "old fellow" had summoned 
his imps for a night's revel, and they were dancing 
a lively schottische on this white-hot floor. As the 
night was dark the minutest feature of the lake 
was revealed, even to the bluish tint of the half- 
consumed gas as it rushed out with a loud, explos- 
ive report, carrying hundreds of tons of lava in a 
fan-like column high above the surface. Some 
idea of the intensity of this heat may be formed 
when it is remembered that lava is a very obdurate 



Trip to the Crater of Mohuaweoweo. 329 

substance, and quite as difficult to melt as brick ; 
yet immense cakes of it, tons in weight, I have seen 
fall into the lake, float for an instant, rapidly 
change color, and in a moment more melt and 
disappear. 

This lake is about 800 feet in diameter, and, like 
Halemaumau, at Kilauea, is flowing over in large 
red streams into the main bottom below. We are 
somewhat proud of the fact that our survey is re- 
garded as the most accurate one yet made. In 
fact, there has only been one other attempt made 
— that by Commodore Wilkes, spoken of. One re- 
sult of this survey will be to deprive Kilauea of 
the proud distinction she has long enjoyed — that 
of being the largest crater in the world. She must 
now rank second, as Mokuaweoweo is, as we found, 
something over nine miles around, and from 800 to 
1 ,000 feet deep. The walls are sheer precipices, and 
in many places over-arching. It has the same 
blackened appearance on the interior mural sur- 
face as Kilauea and Haleakala, the effects of the 
intense heat to which the whole face of the rock 
has been subjected. Although, to all appearances, 
it is next to impossible to effect a descent into the 
crater, I had the temerity — recklessness rather — to 
attempt it. After an effort of several hours I 

42 



330 Trip to the Crater of Mokuaweoweo. 

abandoned it, after having made a descent of a 
few hundred feet. 

This was, I confess, a rash and foolish undertak- 
ing, and well nigh cost me my life. The walls of 
the crater for some distance back are cleft by many 
fissures, only a few feet wide and in many cases 
hundreds of feet deep. They are formed by the 
cracking away of the perpendicular wall, thus 
falling in immense flakes into the crater below. 
They are so often to be met with, and we had 
stepped over them so frequently, that we at last 
came to cross them without fear. On my return, 
wishing to save the distance around, I as usual at- 
tempted to cross directly one that lay across my 
path. It being of unusual width, I feared to leap 
over it, and seeing near by a mass of rock that 
seemed firmly wedged in the fissure, I placed my 
foot upon it, thus intending to step over. 

I had scarcely touched it when the whole mass, 
which had only been loosely suspended, gave way 
and descended with a thundering crash into the 
depths far below. Fortunately I quickly recovered 
my balance before it was too late. / went around 
that fissure, and took a bee line for the camp, mus- 
ing upon the truth of that adage that " the longest 
way round is the shortest way home." 



Trip to the Crater of Molcuaweoweo. 331 

It was very cold on the summit during the night, 
the water freezing quite hard in the canteens. 
With all our efforts we could not keep warm, and 
in the morning we were all quite stiff from cold. 
Our whole company passed a wretched night, grow- 
ing sicker, if possible, as the night advanced, nor 
did we find any relief until we had descended 
about 7,000 feet. 

After we had descended some 4,000 feet we en- 
countered the upper surface of the clouds, and for 
four hours we wandered, and groped, and stumbled, 
in a dense envelope of vapor, so thick that you 
could scarcely see three mules' lengths ahead. As 
there are literally no landmarks, nothing but the 
same unvarying sea of " pahoehoe," the unerring 
skill with which these Kanakas reach an objective 
point is little short of the marvelous. They seem 
to be guided by instinct. 

We reached Kappapala the same evening. I am 
not now sorry that I made the trip, but would be 
very sorry to be compelled to repeat it, it being, as 
I believe, the roughest route in the world. 



332 Mud-Flow in Kau. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
Mud-Flow in Kau. 

Some four miles distant, and in view from Kap- 
papala, bearing away to the southeast, is a ridge, 
one of many which on all sides of this mountain 
spring from the base like the spur roots that sus- 
tain the trunk of a tree. Along the base of this 
ridge — it would be called a mountain range in 
America, as it is from 2,000 to 4,000 feet high — ex- 
tending for several miles outward therefrom at a 
gentle decline, lies the most lovely of valleys. 
Over its whole surface was spread a rich carpet of 
perennial verdure, and scattered here and there 
were clumps of Kukui and Oheia trees, under 
whose friendly shade congregated, from the rich 
pastures around, droves of well-fattened cattle, 
horses and goats, which in drowsy herds here found 
a safe and pleasant retreat from the scorching rays 
of a noon-day sun. 

Nestled in groves of palms and under the spread- 
ing branches of the mango, in his rude hut, plaited 



Mud- Flow in Kau. 333 

from the pliant fibres of the Lauhalla, the leisure- 
loving native rested in ease, peace and fancied 
security. All along the foot of the ridge, the 
upland limits of the valley, for miles, there was a 
succession of these primitive houses of the island- 
ers, which at a point about midway from Kappa- 
pala to Ninoli thickened into a small irregular 
village. Taken as a whole, it was one of the most 
pleasant pastoral scenes that ever dwelt in the 
fancy of a poet. 

Here we would think, with the open plain be- 
low, and the gently receding slope above, perfect 
security was assured the dwellers in this little 
paradise, and no sudden calamity could befall 
them, even in a region where law and order gave 
way to the phenomenal, the accidental. Yet in an 
ill-starred moment, a swift and frightful desolation 
and destruction swept over and transformed this 
beauteous scene into a hideous ruin. 

During the afternoon of April 2d, 1868, at the 
time that the great earthquake wave swept through 
the island, a large tract of land resting on the face 
of the mountain some 2,000 feet above and a mile 
and a half distant from the little village, by some 
mysterious operation of nature was hurled in a 
commingled mass of stones, earth and water upon 



S3 4 Mud-Flow in Kau. 



the valley below, extending in places to several 
miles from the foot of the mountain. As if under 
a special mission of destruction, it sought out the 
most pleasant portion of the valley and buried un- 
der its crushing mass the unsuspecting village in 
its midst. 

So great was the volume of matter that it cov- 
ered an area of nearly two square miles, which 
varied in its depth from two feet at the edge to 
thirty at the middle. There were buried beneath 
it some thirty natives and from five hundred to one 
thousand head of horses, cattle &c. 

The projection of this matter seemed instantane- 
ous, and was accompanied with a flood of water 
which continued for days to pour down the mount- 
ain side in great quantities. The limits of the 
space occupied by the mass on the mountain side 
are quite sharply defined, and plainly visible at a 
distance of many miles. It was in size somewhat 
less than it now occupies in the plain below. 

As this is regarded as the most mysterious of all 
mysteries in these islands, we devoted some time 
to an examination of it, with a view to deduce if 
possible a theory of its origin that would co-ordi- 
nate with the facts. We therefore took many 
measurements in the valley and at the bottom of 



Mud- Flow in Kau. 337 

the slope, being the more accessible localities. We 
were thus limited in our explorations by the unfor- 
tunate circumstance that there are almost contin- 
uously hovering near the summit — and thus in the 
locality where the eruption had its origin — torrents 
of rain which effectually prevent any explorations 
in that quarter at such times. But I am happily 
furnished with an accurate measurement of this 
locality, for which I am indebted to my friend Mr. 
John Lydgate, who after our departure completed 
a careful survey, which he has kindly forwarded. 

By these measurements it is found that the dis- 
tance from the center of the area marking the site 
occupied by the earth before its removal, to the 
center of the mass as it now lies spread out over 
the valley, is over two miles, and the extreme dis- 
tance from the upper to the lower edge is over four 
miles. Thus there are millions of tons of matter 
now lying in the valley, fully four miles removed 
from the position it occupied on the side of the 
mountain. The weight of the entire mass cannot 
be far from 40 to 50 millions of tons. 

That so large a quantity of material should be 
transferred through so great a distance in the lapse 
of a moment is sufficiently wonderful; but what 
adds greatly to the mystery, and renders it appa- 

43 



S3 8 Mud-Flow in Kan. 

rently impossible of solution, is a fact which I will 
now point out. The general feature of this phe- 
nomenon, it will be noted, is the change in position, 
through an average distance of three miles, of a 
tract of earth \\ miles square, and of a medium 
depth of 12 feet. Along the slope, upwards at a 
distance of about 900 feet from the base of the 
mountain, there stood a native thatched hut, sur- 
rounded by a few Kukui trees. 

This hut was in a direct line which would join 
the centers of the two areas above and below, viz. : 
that of the vacant space above, and that which 
marks the space now covering the valley below. 
It was therefore in a line coincident with that 
traversed by the mass in its change of position. At 
the time of the occurrence, this hut was occupied 
by a native and his family; and miraculous as it 
may seem, this whole vast volume of matter, con- 
taining trees of great size, stones hundreds of tons 
in weight, all passed directly over this hut without 
the slightest harm either to the structure or its 
inmates. Indeed, at the time they were even bliss- 
fully unconscious of the fact that a small continent, 
with a river or two thrown in, had passed over 
their heads. 

I also observed that there was a distance of 



Mud- Flow in Kau. 339 



about 900 feet which bore no evidence of any of 
the material having touched it, as it was covered 
with an unbroken sward. It would thus seem that 
for a distance of at least 900 feet the entire mass 
took a clear flight through the air. 

Although it is called by the residents a mud-flow, 
yet the fact that through a portion of the distance 
it did not come in contact with the earth at all, 
renders it seemingly impossible to explain it upon 
the theory of a simple land-slide. The theory 
therefore has become current and to a great extent 
adopted, that it was driven ofi" of the face of the 
mountain by an internal explosive force and hurled 
bodily over the distance traversed by it. The 
origin of this force is variously ascribed " to the 
sudden generation of steam by coming in contact 
with the heated matter under the surface," to the 
explosive power of confined gases &c., &c. 

But to all the theories based upon the sudden 
application of a projectile force, the unanswerable 
objection can be raised that a force so great as 
would be necessary to impart instantly such an 
initial velocity to forty millions of tons of solid 
matter as would carry it by its momentum so ac- 
quired through an average distance of three miles, 
would certainly produce a concussion for miles 



340 Mud-Flow in Kau. 



along the face of the mountain at least sufficient to 
seriously disturb all movable objects resting with- 
in such limits. But this was not the case. Even 
the frail native hut, located only 2,300 feet from 
the lower edge of this supposed exploded area, re- 
mained without the slightest injury. If the theory 
of applied internal force were correct, it does seem 
to me that the resultant concussion, even at that 
distance, would have been sufficient to have shot 
the inmates through the roof like sky-rockets. 

Believing the explosive theory utterly untena- 
ble, I examined the surface features with some 
degree of care, to determine if there was really 
any insuperable obstacle in the way of accounting 
for the phenomenon wholly upon the ground of it 
being an ordinary land-slide. 

Although the face of the mountain presents an 
apparently uniform surface, sloping with what 
seems a regular incline, yet in reality there are 
many irregularities of surface, it being terraced in 
many places. On examination it was apparent 
that at a distance of a few hundred feet above the 
spot where the hut stood, there began in an abrupt 
manner a declivity of a much sharper grade than 
the average above and below that point, forming 
at its upper extremity a marked offset, and below 



Mud-Flow in Kau. 343 

joining liie bordering valley at a much more acute 
angle than would be produced by the prolongation 
of a surface having the same general angle of incli- 
nation as that above. 

On inspection it was found that for the space of 
a hundred feet or so extending from the verge of 
this oifset, the ground approximated somewhat to 
a horizontal position. The accompanying diagram 
will show this variability of surface inclination, 
A being the point where the hut was located, B 
the section of sudden and increased declivity, E F 
the denuded area consequent upon the displace- 
ment of the material forming the slide. 

The distance from B to C I found to be about 900 
feet and the hight, by barometric reckoning, was 
450 feet. The distance from the edge or offset, B, 
to F, the lower edge of slide, was found by Mr. 
Lydgate's measurement to be about 2,000 feet, and 
the perpendicular hight of the latter above the 
former 900 feet. The distance from the same point 
to the upper edge of slide was 7,400 feet, and the 
perpendicular hight 1,700 feet. 

Thus it will be seen that the angle of inclination 
was for the first or upper grade in the ratio of 1 to 
4.5, and for the lower section 2. The question 
therefore to be determined is, when regarding it 



344 Mud 'Flow in Kau. 

as a simple land-slide, whether there can be de- 
duced from the data contained in this problem, 
under the hypothesis stated, the result shown by 
observation ; or in other words, whether from the 
hight above the point B there would be a velocity 
sufficient acquired by gravity to cause the mass to 
leap over the intervening distance of 900 feet, and 
also whether the trajectory of the mass, as a re- 
sultant of such conjunction of forces, would be such 
as to give the required elevation above the sloping 
surface. 

It is obvious from the difference in vertical hight 
of the upper and lower portions of the slide that 
there must also exist corresponding differences in 
velocity at the instant of its approach to the point 
B. There is also another cause which would oper- 
ate to produce further inequality of motion. From 
the point B to F there is an intervening space of 
2,000 feet, the irregularities of whose surface, 
together with other objects, such as trees, loose 
rock, earth &c., would interpose constant checks to 
the progress of the mass in its descent. To the 
lower portion of the slide, therefore, would be pre- 
sented obstacles to its motion to which the upper 
portion would not be subject; and as a conse- 
quence of this reduced resistance to its gravity, as 



Mud-Flow in Kau. 34^ 



well as the greater altitude through which it would 
descend, there would be as between the upper and 
lower portions a wide diversity of velocity as it 
passed the point B. 

The degree of retardation which a mass thus de- 
scending would suffer is dependent upon both the 
nature of the moving material and the character 
of surface upon which it rested. Observers all 
agree that the site of the dislodged mass was but a 
soft, swampy tract. The material, after the flow 
into the valley, is described as of soft, clayey, semi- 
liquid character, which for months after was not of 
sufficient firmness to support even the weight of a 
man. It seemed in fact to be a combination of 
earth, stones and water, the latter in such quanti- 
ties as to make of the whole a sort of thin mortar. 

The denuded surface left by the dislodgement of 
the material above, as well as that from the lower 
edge to the point B, was solid rock. It seems there- 
fore probable that the thin, slippery, boggy sub- 
stance which had accumulated upon this rocky 
surface had by the tremulous jar of repeated 
earthquake shocks become loosened and by its 
gravity flowed down with resistless force and im- 
petuosity. The descent was no doubt greatly aided 
by the contained water in the mass, of which there 

44 



3Jf6 Mud-Flow in Kau. 

was an immense volume, since for months after- 
wards a large stream poured down the mountain 
side, having its origin near the center of the de- 
nuded tract, which still flows in considerable quan- 
tities, though the lapse of eight years has inter- 
vened since it burst forth. 

The theoretical velocity of a body falling 
through a distance of 900 feet, the perpendicular 
hight of F above B, is 240 feet per second. By the 
coefficient of friction of various bodies, we find 
that were the surfaces smooth and uniform, the ve- 
locity acquired at the point B by virtue of a 
descent through 900 feet vertical hight, and where 
water or other fluids interposed between the sur- 
faces, would be 180 feet per second. Allowing for 
irregularities of surface and other impediments, we 
believe a velocity of 140 or 150 feet per second 
would be realized by the descent of a mass of such 
great weight, and consisting in so large a part of 
so mobile a fluid as water. 

Now from the point B to C, there is a perpendic- 
ular hight of 450 feet. A body falling freely and 
without resistance, under the influence of gravity 
only, would occupy 5.4 seconds of time in descend- 
ing through this space. The substance of the slide, 
by reason of the almost horizontal surface imme- 



Mud-Flow in Kau. SJj.7 



diately above the point B— thou^^h only of limited 
width — would move, as an initial direction at that 
point, on a line also nearly approaching a hori- 
zontal. 

Therefore, as the velocity of descent which we 
have assumed as probable is about 145 feet per 
second, and as the time required in falling through 
the vertical distance from B to C is 5.4 seconds, it 
follows that the trajectory as a resultant of the 
combined influences of gravity and the primary 
lineal velocity stated would be such as to carry the 
mass to that distance represented by 145x5.4, be- 
fore it again came in contact with the earth. This 
distance would be 783 feet, or very nearly the 
distance actually observed to exist between the 
points. 

The theoretical velocity of a body falling 
through the distance of 1,700 feet would be about 
330 feet per second. Taking into account the fact 
that the lower portion of the sliding mass in its 
descent removed such impeding matter as lay in 
its path, and from its own substance filling to a 
regular, uniform surface any existing roughness 
and irregularities ; and taking likewise into con- 
sideration the fact that a much larger volume of 
water also descended from this locality, it is there- 



84^ Mud-Mow in Kau. 



fore highly probable that the actual velocity of 
that portion descending from the extreme upper 
limits bore a much larger ratio to the theoretic 
velocity due to a body falling through the same 
hight than that descending from the extreme low- 
er limits. This velocity, under the conditions 
stated, would not be far from that to be deduced 
from the co-efficient of friction for bodies between 
whose surfaces a liquid interposed. 

This would give for the material from the ex- 
treme upper edge a velocity of 240 feet per second. 
The material of this portion of the slide would 
therefore be carried from the point B to a distance 
equal to 240x5.4=1,296 feet, before it again reached 
the earth. If this difference in velocity which we 
have sought to demonstrate really existed, then it 
would follow as a natural result that the arrange- 
ment of matter, as respects the order of its position, 
would be reversed, since that portion falling 
through the lesser hight would by reason of its 
less contained momentum be carried to a shorter 
distance into the valley below than that falling 
from a greater vertical hight. 

And here the theory receives a strong confirma- 
tion in the fact that the material which came from 
the highest altitude on the mountain now lies at 



Mud-Flow in Kau. 34^ 



the extreme further edge of the flow in the valley, 
while that from the lowest level lies nearest the 
foot of the mountain, being thus inverted, a result 
to be expected as a consequence of the difference 
in velocity pointed out. 

It remains only to determine whether the mo- 
mentum due to the velocity assumed would be 
sufficient to force the mass to the distance it now 
occupies from the base of the mountain. In the 
unobstructed passage from B to C, the mass would 
be accelerated in its velocity over that at the point 
B, at least 120 feet per second. This added to the 
velocity of that portion from the extreme upper 
edge would make a total of 360 feet per second at 
the instant it came in contact with the earth below 
the point C. As the decline from this point to the 
farthest extremity of the flow is nearly 400 feet, the 
angle of inclination would approach to a measura- 
ble coincidence with the direction of the motion of 
the mass ; so that the whole— or nearly so— of its 
momentum would be consumed in forcing the ma- 
terial over the surface of the earth. 

The velocity of 360 feet per second represents, 
for the " vis viva " of a body, that amount which 
under a constant resistance equal to its own weight 
would be sufficient to carry it to a distance of 



350 Mud-Flow in Kau. 

nearly 2,000 feet. That is, if a moving body of one 
pound weight had a motion in any direction of 360 
feet per second, the power for which this velocity 
was an equivalent would be sufficient to overcome 
a constant resistance of one pound through a dis- 
tance of nearly 2,000 feet. If, as in the case under 
discussion, the only resistance to overcome was 
that due to the friction between surfaces, for which 
in the present case one-third may be regarded as a 
liberal estimate, then the distance to which a body 
would be carried under the impulse due to that 
velocity would exceed that where the resistance 
was equal to the weight by an amount inversely in 
proportion to the ratio of co-efficient of friction to 
the total weight of the mass. 

Taking the co-efficient of friction at .33, (rather 
above than below the real one) the momentum 
due to the velocity we have found would therefore 
be ample to carry it to the distance of 6,000 feet 
down an incline of 1 in 14; and this will not vary 
in a material degree from the length of the flow 
which really exists, from the base of the mountain 
to the extreme lower edge in the valley. 



Homeward Bound. 351 



CHAPTER XX. 

Homeward Bound. 

It was originally our intention to go around by 
the way of Waihinu, through the pleasant coffee 
and orange groves of Puna, and thence by the lit- 
tle Indian hamlet of Honokua to Kealekakua Bay, 
where in respect to Capt. Cook — who was killed at 
this place by the natives — we had thought to shed 
a few tears on the enshrined spot of his martyrdom. 
But as we had already visited coffee-groves on 
Maui, and had surfeited on the guavas and oranges 
of Kauahai, this part of the programme had but 
little attraction for us. 

As to the latter inducement, as we progressed 
on our journey, and the nearer we approached the 
locality where the historic event occurred, the 
more numerous became the native versions of this 
unfortunate affair; and such was the coherent 
thread of credibility that ran through them all 
that we began to suspect that as in all things else, 
this story had two sides to it. In fact, we found 



S52 Homeward Bound. 



ourselves almost forced to the unwilling belief that 
the credence gained by that version which has 
been popularized throughout Christendom was not 
so much owing to the inherent truth contained in 
it as to the superior facilities afforded by civiliza- 
tion over that of mere native oral transmission and 
tradition for propagating it, whether true or false. 
But still we preferred to cherish love's young 
dreams, and we did not propose to yield up on in- 
sufficient evidence a belief which had as a warrant 
for sincerity the early impressions and trust of 
confiding childhood, and as a guaranty of absolute 
truth a long and undisputed array of historical 
proofs. It is true that the latter came from one 
side and were drawn from one source only, and for 
the especial purpose of vindicating the honor of 
the gallant captain; yet it is essential, in order 
that we may rest secure in the enjoyment of the 
pleasing delusions of our schoolboy days, that no 
rebutting testimony be admitted, especially from 
a heathen source. And moreover, is it right, is it 
reasonable, to expect that in behalf of a few be- 
nighted, unregenerate heathen. Christian civiliza- 
tion should be'^restricted in the exercise of that 
grandest of its prerogatives, the right and power to 
suppress as well as disseminate truth ? 



Homeward Bound. 353 

We therefore steadfastly refused to believe, and 
at first lent an unwilling ear to the native recital 
of the long catalogue of wrongs and injuries suf- 
fered by them at the hands of Capt. Cook. How 
for months they had admitted him without re- 
straint into their hospitable homes, welcomed him 
throughout all the districts of the islands, gave 
him of their scanty store with a generosity charac- 
teristic of these people — a quality that even now 
wins the heart and excites the unbounded admira- 
tion of the traveler — and how, in return for all this, 
in the most wanton manner he betrayed their con- 
fidence, kindness and hospitality, treated them 
with cruelty, brutality and contempt, even violat- 
ing the sanctity of their domestic relations. All 
this, a new revelation to us, grated harshly upon 
ears attuned to the witching dreams and romance 
of early days, and the unpleasant suspicion came 
over us that it was another case of misplaced con- 
fidence. 

Although we were not wholly converted to the 
new phase of the story, yet we had heard so much 
of the doings — the shameless conduct of this gay 
old buccaneer — that by the time we arrived here, 
the fountains of grief had pretty well dried up ; so 
that were we even to endure the hardships inci- 

45 



35 Jj. Hoineward Bound. 

dent to a pilgrimage of a hundred miles, we were 
not sure that we would find in an old cocoa-nut 
stump — the only remaining witness of the sad 
tragedy, now in the last stages of decay — a sufii- 
ciently touching reminiscence of this melancholy 
occurrence to open the flood-gates of our sorrow 
to any great extent. 

Besides, as we had already, in our school-boy 
days, invested in this arrant humbug about all our 
surplus sympathy and tenderness, we thought that 
at this time it would be both unwise and unprofit- 
able to levy any further assessment upon our cre- 
dulity. We therefore thought we could not do his 
memory justice, and so concluded to let the gal- 
lant captain rest in peace — or rather in pieces, as it 
is said the outraged and infuriated natives literally 
tore him into fragments. 

We accordingly decided to return to Hilo via 
Kilauea, and by the same route by which we had 
reached this place, being induced to do so not only 
from the desire to take one more look at the grand 
old crater, but also to complete our collection of 
specimens and superintend their preparation for 
shipment, since they had to be carried to the coast 
on pack mules. 

Among the objects of lesser interest and attrac- 



Homeward Bound. 355 

tion here is the sulphur bed located near the 
northern verge of the crater. In this locality is an 
unusual number of fissures, through which escape, 
in dense columns, volumes of steam carrying with 
it in large quantities the volatilized vapors of sul- 
phur. As it comes in contact with the colder air 
of the surface, a sudden and partial condensation 
of steam ensues, and also that of the sulphurous 
vapors, which latter gradually accumulate in 
masses of iridescent crystals, of indescribable 
beauty both in the delicacy of form and line, which 
unfortunately for the collector are as fragile as 
beautiful. 

As this has continued for ages, it has in the pro- 
cess of time built up a huge ridge of almost pure 
sulphur, from which large solid blocks can be taken 
with but little labor. By carefully wrapping some 
of the more enduring and substantial specimens 
in the soft silken substance of the pulu, we man- 
aged to preserve somewhat of their original beauty 
and form. 

At the base of the ridge is located a sulphur 
bath quite original in design and construction, and 
fully as efficient as unique. Over one of the fis- 
sures that emits a vapor somewhat less in temper- 
ature than others — that is to say, not quite red hot 



356 



Homeward Bound. 



— a grass hut is built. Within this is a rude box, 
at the bottom of which the hot vapors are admit- 
ted directly from the crevice in the earth, the flow 




A SULPHUR BATH. 

being regulated by a sort of fly-trap or winged 
valve made out of a piece of plank. 

This is closed at the top by a movable cover 
composed of two pieces meeting in the middle, in 
the respective halves of which is a cut a semi-cir- 
cle, so that when joined together they form an 



Homeward Bound. 857 

aperture of size sufficient to admit the neck of 
the unfortunate who in a misguided moment 
should be betrayed by curiosity into the broiling 
atmosphere of this little Tophet. When once in 
position the two halves of the cover are closed 
about the neck, and a towel is also wrapped close- 
ly to more completely exclude the fumes of sul- 
phur, which are so strong as to quickly produce 
suflFocation if not entirely shut out. 

Three minutes is thought to be long enough lor 
a good, eflective bath. I should think that was 
plenty — in fact, a liberal allowance. Indeed, as 
far as our experience goes, we thought three sec- 
onds better; or at least that is quite long enough 
to cause one to moult to the toe-nails if not too 
thick skinned. The first effect is sufficiently start- 
ling, and is very similar to what would be produced 
by the sudden discharge of the contents of a 
steam-boiler on one's naked person. At first we 
thought our attendant had made a mistake, and 
instead of vapor had turned on a stream of hot 
lava ; but he said it was all right, and gave us the 
comforting assurance that we would soon get used 
to it. 

Perhaps that was true; but we had no notion of 
getting used to it, as we felt sure that would only 



358 Homeward Bound. 

happen when we had been converted into a mum- 
my. I began to feel a little uneasy when the un- 
pleasant suspicion flashed through my mind that 
it was not a sulphur bath after all — only a decoy — 
simply a trick of these heathen, who instead of 
eating people raw as they used to, had so far 
yielded to the influence and customs of civiliza- 
tion that they now took them boiled. We there- 
fore suddenly discovered that we were perfectly 
healthy, and really did not need a bath any way. 

So precisely at the end of one and three-quarter 
seconds we signified our belief that we were thor- 
oughly cooked — well done — in fact sufficiently 
tender for the most cultivated cannibal palate. 
We also added, in a persuasive sort of way, that 
by the Great American Eagle, George Washington 
and Oapt. Cook, if he did not instantly turn his 
throttle he would think a small volcano had fallen 
on him. Whether it was due to the sadness in our 
eye or the dread inspired by the recollections of 
Capt. Cook, or whether he preferred us half raw, I 
do not know ; but he responded with an alacrity 
that was pleasing, and we crawled out of our va- 
pory sepulchre in a magnificent state of perspira- 
tion and an odor like a match factory — with steam 
enough in us to run a 40-horse engine, and with a 



Romeward Bound. 359 

skin stimulated to the ruddy hue of a parboiled 
lobster. 

After taking a careful inventory of our damaged 
anatomy, we found that at a low estimate we had 
lost an amount of cuticle upon which, if converted 
into parchment, we might have written the whole 
history of the islands. If we are ever again seized 
with the insane desire to indulge in the luxuries of 
a sulphur bath, I am sure that it will not be in 
Pele's stew-pot, nor in the presence of a famished 
man-eater, hanging round and waiting with hun- 
gry expectancy to try the flavor of our corporeal 
substance. 

Among the more curious specimens added to our 
collection at the crater of Kilauea is a singular 
substance, appropriately called by the natives 
" Pele's hair." It is a filamentous substance, re- 
sembling very closely spun glass — indeed its for- 
mation is due to a process very similar to that by 
which the latter is produced. 

When molten lava has passed to the first stage 
of hardening, it is of a soft, waxj'^ nature, and be- 
comes ductile to a remarkable degree, considering 
its extreme brittleness when in a hardened state. 
It can be twisted and molded into any shape, and 
drawn out in long slender threads. When the lava 



360 HoTneward Bound. 

is thrown into the air by the constant play of the 
fiery jets in the burning lake, it becomes reduced 
in temperature so that in the separation of the 
particles when in this partially cooled condition, it 
is drawn out in threads or filaments of greater or 
less degree of fineness, just as a glass-blower spins 
his plastic lump of glass into long, delicate, silk- 
like fibres. As this substance, from its extreme 
tenuity, becomes very light, it floats in the air like 
a spider's web and does not descend with the 
heavier mass as it falls back into the lake, but is 
carried away by the force of the currents of air, 
sometimes to the distance of many miles from the 
crater. 

To the windward of this crater, therefore, for sev- 
eral miles, this substance can be found, in many 
places completely covering the ground with its 
fairy gossamer carpet. The birds here sometimes, 
in the absence of better material, build their nests 
of it ; and we were shown one that was composed 
entirely of this substance, which for delicacy of 
texture is all a feathered architect could desire. 

Sending our guides forward with the mule train, 
laden with our collection securely packed, we 
mounted our horses, rode to the verge of the cra- 
ter, looked once, twice, thrice at its glowing fires, 



Homeward Bound. 361 

and regretfully bid adieu to Kilauea, resuming our 
journey to Hilo. 

We stopped at a straggling native village about 
fifteen miles from the crater, where for the first 
time we observed the process by which the famous 
native Kapa cloth is made. The manufacture of 
this cloth is now confined to a very few persons, 
and so far as relates to these islands may soon be 
numbered among the lost arts. It is now pro- 
duced only by aged people, who, as in our own 
country, have brought down into the present gen- 
eration the customs and habits of the past. 

This material, though in its general appearance 
it somewhat resembles woven fabrics, cannot prop- 
erly be classed as a real cloth, being in fact a 
coarse, tough quality of paper. It is made from 
the inner bark of the Mamakie, or paper mulberry, 
which bears a very close resemblance to our own 
varieties of that tree. The bark, which is quite 
tough and highly fibrous, is cut into pieces of suit- 
able size and soaked in water until it has be- 
come softened by its action. The bark is then laid 
on the smooth round surface of the trunk of an 
oheia or other tree, and beaten with a rectangular 
beater or club upon the faces of which is carved 
in lines the rude pattern which the fabric when 

46 



362 Homeward Bound. 

done is intended to contain as a sort of water 
lines. 

One piece after another is thus laid on and joined 
or felted together, the mass spreading out into 
sheets of any desired size, and of a thickness quite 
uniform, resembling parchment. The cloth when 
complete affords a material of some durability, 
though it is more ornamental than useful, as it 
will not resist the effects of rain. It however at 
one time supplied to these people all the article of 
dress which they found necessary to wear, either 
from the demands of propriety, or the climate, or 
both. They are frequently quite prettily orna- 
mented by painted designs and figures; and in 
former times, when the art was in its highest state, 
patterns were sometimes produced by the more 
dextrous and expert which were wonderful for 
their delicacy of texture, and such as was only the 
possible result of much skill, untiring patience 
and industry. 

Another article which it was once their custom 
to largely produce, not only in these islands, but 
among almost all the southern oceanic groups, but 
now very nearly extinct here, was the celebrated 
intoxicating liquor called " awa." It is almost 
identical with the " kava " of the Tonga and Ta- 



Homeward Bound. 363 

hitian islands, and manufactured in the same curi- 
ous, disgusting manner. 

As it is of the most highly intoxicating nature, 
and as its use formerly extended almost universal- 
ly throughout the whole of Oceanica, arising in 
this region with a sort of spontaneity, it affords 
striking proof of the innate fondness of the human 
race for stimulants. Its manufacture and use in 
these islands is interdicted by the strongest legis- 
lative enactments, and punished by the severest 
penalties; yet it is almost impossible to wholly 
suppress it, as the natives find in the inaccessible 
fastnesses of the mountains both opportunity for 
its manufacture and security in its use ; and such 
is their fondness for it that they will incur almost 
any risk in order to secure enough of it to develop 
a good square drunk. 

It is made from the root of a species of pepper- 
plant, (macropiper methysticum) the close resem- 
blance of which to the Ramie led us to imagine 
that it might be in some degree allied in nature to 
the Indian hemp from which the famous Hasheesh 
is produced. The method of its manufacture is 
very simple, strictly original, and not encumbered 
by any complicating processes of the chemist's 
art. The Kanaka being by nature a very sociable 



364 Homeiuard Bound. 

creature and withal somewhat convivial, and as an 
"awa" debauch is the highest type of social en- 
joyment, its manufacture therefore becomes the 
occasion of rare social entertainment. 

Surrounding a calabash of a size suited to the 
quantity to be produced, each member of the party 
takes a piece of the root and chews it until re- 
duced to a soft, spongy, pulpy mass. This he 
throws into the calabash, and repeats the opera- 
tion, each one in turn throwing in his well masti- 
cated cud until a sufficient quantity has been con- 
tributed to the common fund to meet the wants of 
the party. 

While we cannot commend this practice for its 
perfect cleanliness, yet it will be seen that there is 
a familiarity, a pleasing sociability about it, that 
goes far towards redeeming it from a somewhat 
disgusting nastiness in some respects. After 
enough of the root has thus been chewed, water is 
poured over it, and it is then allowed to macerate 
for a short time. Some one of the party is then 
selected to give the finishing touch; and as it is 
regarded as an important function, the selection is 
made with great care. What the special qualifica- 
tions are to enable one to officiate in an acceptable 
manner I am unable to say ; but as we have seen 



Homeward Bound. 365 

that cleanliness is esteemed as of the first moment, 
I presume the choice falls upon the one who should 
chance to have the cleanest hands. He takes the 
mass in his hands, kneads it thoroughly, and then 
squeezes it until quite dry, thus extracting care- 
fully and fully all of the delicious, savory juices 
contained in it. 

It is now ready to drink, and forms perhaps the 
most villainous decoction that the ingenuity of 
man, or rather want of ingenuity, ever concocted, 
or that ever passed the lips of an inebriate. A 
small amount is sufficient to produce the most 
deadly eflfects. When once thoroughly under its 
influence, the victim is transformed into a wild, 
furious maniac. It has all the worst features of all 
other intoxicants combined and intensified, with- 
out any of their good qualities. Its habitual use 
produces premature decrepitude, covering the un- 
fortunate with disgusting sores. 

We saw only one person under its influence 
during our stay on the islands, and very naturally 
mistook him for an escaped lunatic. It is one of 
the good efi'ects of civilization that this custom has 
been in a measure suppressed. 

On our return to Hilo we found the little steam- 
er almost in readiness to sail for Honolulu ; so after 



S66 Homeward Bound. 

stowing away our accumulated luggage and bid- 
ding a reluctant adieu to the many kind friends we 
had here found, we set out on what was really the 
first stage of our return. Our route lay along the 
eastern shore of Hawaii, rounding the northern 
cape of the island, and thence along a part of the 
western shore to the little town of Kauahai. 

A part of this course we had gone over on our 
way here, but as it was during the night, we missed 
what we now found to be the most beautiful coast 
scenery we had met with. For eighty miles along 
the eastern shore, there arose a perpendicular 
black wall of lava, from 200 to 400 feet high, no 
doubt caused by the washing of the waves which 
here roll against the rocky wall, billow after bil- 
low, in ceaseless undulations. This coast wall is 
the sudden termination of the broad, gentle slope 
of Mauna Kea,over which and upward the densely 
laden trade breezes sweep and deposit their sur- 
charged moisture in perpetual showers. 

Hundreds of sparkling streams come rushing 
down from their source in the mountain side and 
plunge over this continuous precipice in silvery 
cataracts. To say that there are hundreds of these 
falls is strictly true, as in many places a score or 
more can be seen at one view, or within the space 



Homeward Bound. 3G7 



of a mile or so. We touched but a brief time at 
Lahaina, where we met again our friends Gov. 
Kepana and Mr. Smith, with whom we spent so 
many pleasant hours during our former stay here. 

We reached Honolulu at the end of two days' 
sail, and found to our inexpressible delight letters 
and papers in abundance from home, which we de- 
voured with an avidity which might be expected 
after nearly two months' exile from home and the 
world of current news. As the steamer whose 
return from Australia we had to await was not yet 
due, we gave ourselves up to the delightful pastime 
of recruiting from our fatigue in the hospitable 
society of Honolulu, and daily horseback rides into 
the enticing country around. 

We visited Mt. Tantalus, the pleasant valleys of 
Manoa,Halawa, climbed the rugged promontory of 
Coco Head, strolled along the snowy beach of 
Waikiki, when suddenly we were awakened from 
our pleasant dream by the unwelcome news that 
the steamer had arrived, and at last the time had 
come for us to quit these scenes of more than 
earthly beauty. The sails are unfurled, the slow 
heavy beating of the engine measures by its dull, 
monotonous throb each fleeting moment that binds 
us to this paradise, and ere we have realized the 



368 Homeward Bound. 



truth we find, alas ! that we must bid farewell — but 
as I trust not forever — to this lovely land. 

I cannot say that " the end " shall be written un- 
der this, the most pleasant page of my life, without 
an expression of the deepest, truest regret and 
sorrow in parting with one whose kind attentions, 
whose generous efforts contributed so largely to 
the pleasure, the happiness we experienced in 
these islands. As the boat was leaving the wharf 
at San Francisco, on our departure for the islands, 
we noticed a tall, fatherly gentleman whose court- 
esy and cordiality, whose modesty of deportment 
drew and fixed our attention. We soon learned 
that he was a resident of the islands, and was re- 
turning from what was perhaps his last visit to his 
native country. It was the Rev. Mr. Castle, one of 
the first missionaries to the islands, who had been 
a resident there for nearly forty years, and for 
many years Secretary of the Board of Foreign 
Missions. He is now quite an aged man, but with 
a heart fresh and youthful in its tenderness and 
kindness. 

We very soon became acquainted, and so 
charmed were we with his gentleness of manner, 
his goodness of heart, that each succeeding 
morning found us looking with more impatient 



Homeiuard Bound. S69 

eagerness for his appearance — he who by word and 
act added so much to our comfort and happiness. 
On our arrival at Honolulu, we found in his con- 
stant endeavors to aid us, in the friendly offices 
that betokened a heart deep and full of charity 
and sympathy, fresh cause to remember and revere 
him as one of the rarest of Christian gentlemen. 
What more can we say of one combining all those 
virtues that constitute a true gentleman and the 
graces that make a real Christian, but to add the 
regret that this selfish world is not peopled with 
such as he. 

But alas ! his virtues stand out all the more con- 
spicuous, like his own sunny isles, (visions of which 
haunt me yet) whose skies shine all the brighter, 
and whose landscapes smile all the sweeter, be- 
cause they stand alone in the glories of their per- 
fect, unapproachable beauty and splendor, in a 
world whose contending elements, closing in the 
perpetual strife of endless disorder, the inscrutable 
laws of nature have wrought into a mysterious 
whole. 



THE END. 



APFEKDIX. 



371 



APPENDIX. 



PronuncixVtion of Hawaiian Terms. 



In the Hawaiian language the vowel sounds are 
similar to those of most of the continental lan- 
guages of Europe, being also uniform and unvary- 
ing except as to the duration of their utterance. 
A has the sound of « in father ; E has the sound of 
a in fate; I has the sound of e in me; has the 
natural sound of o in go ; and U that of oo in boot. 

The Following is a list of the Hawaiian terms 
and names which have been used in the foregoing 
chapter.-), with their English pronunciation as 
nearly as can be given : 

lao — Ee-ah^o 
Kauai — Kow-aw^ee 
Kahoolawe — Kah-holah^vva 
Kauahai — Ko-ahhah'ee 
Kappapala — Kah-pop'a-lah 
Kaihia — Kah-ee-loo''ah 
Kau — Kah-oo' 
KUauea — Kee lovv-way^ah 
Kukui — Koo-koo^ee 
Kona — Ko^nah 

Kealekakua — Kay-ah-lay-kah- 
koo'ah 



Ainapo — Ah-ee-nah-po 

Awa — Ah^wah 

Hawaii — Ho\v-ah'''^e 

i/i/o— Hee^lo 

Ilualalai — Hoo-ah-lah-lah^ce 

Haleakala — Hah - lee - ack - all - 

lah^ 
Halemaumau — Hah - lee - mow' 

oo-mow-oo 
Honokua — Ho-no-koo'ah 
Halawa — Hah-lah^wah 
Holoku — Ho'lo-koo 



372 



APPE.KDIX. 



Koa — Ko^ah 
Kou — Ko-oo' 
Kamehameha — Kah-may 'alj- 

may-ah 
Kalakaua — Kali-lah-kow'ah 
Kapena — Kah-pay 'nali 
Kapa — Kali ''pal i 
Kanaka — Kab-nah^kali 
Lanai — Lah-ual/ee 
Lahaina — Lah-hy^nah 
Lauhidla — Lah-oo-haFlali 
Lunalilo — Loo-iiali-lee^lo 
Maul — Mow^ee 
Molokai — Mo-lo-kah'ee 
Mokawau — Muck-ah-wah 'oo 
Maiina Loa — Mow^nah-Lo'ali 
MaunaKea — Mow^nah-Kay^ah 
Mokudweoweo — Muck - oo - ah - 

way^o-way-o 
Mamakie — Mali-iuah 'ka 
Mama — Mah-no^ah 
N'iihau — N-ee-ee--how'ou 



Ninoli — Nee- n o '1 ee 

Nnami — Noo-ab^new 

Oafm — 0-waw^hoo 

Oheia — 0-hee''ah 

Oloalu — 0-lo-ah'loo 

Puyia — Poo'nah 

Poi — Po'ee 

Puhi — Poo'loo 

i\Ve— Pay'lay 

Pahoehoe — Pah-lio'a-ho-a 

P«W— Pah^'lee 

Taro — Tah'ro 

I'abti — Tall 'boo 

Ulapalakmi — Oo - lab - pal - ab ■ 

koo'ab 
Wailukii — Wjr-loo'koo 
Il«//77.7— Wy'kee-kee 
Waihhm — Wab-fe-bee'iioo 
■ Wahmnalai—mW-dh-ee-\\{i]\-un]\- 

lali'ee 
WiliiriH — Wee* ''lee- wee- lee 



NOTE. 

For the following collection of prints from speci- 
mens of some of the many beautiful varieties of 
ferns found on the Hawaiian Islands, I am in- 
debted to the diligent and skillful labors of my 
wife, who with great care transferred directly from 
the specimens the impressions contained in the 
remaining pages of this volume. 



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